


Star-crossed

by Neverever



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Betrayal, Captain America-Iron Man Big Bang 2018, Fairies, Forbidden Love, Love at First Sight, Multi, Mutual Pining, Separations, Star-crossed, Temporary Character Death, War, thanos - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 03:11:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 26,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: Steve and Tony fall for each other when Steve pulls Tony out of the bushes. But their fairy cities are on the verge of war. Steve could lose his life if his king finds out that he is in love with Tony. Tony could lose everything if his fellow fairies find out about Steve. But they need each other like they need air.And there is a worse danger coming than war between their cities that could destroy everything.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Captain America/Iron Man Big Bang 2018.
> 
> The terrific art to go along with the story can be found [here.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16652611) Faite was a wonderful artist to work with and I was thrilled to be matched with her. Thank you so much for the fantastic art and all the encouragement! 
> 
> Big thanks to my beta, arms_plutonic who helped so much with this.

“We shouldn’t be here, Tones,” Rhodey warned.

Perched on a branch high above Rhodey, Tony reached towards his little red and gold flying machine caught in the leaves. “Just a minute.” He touched the orb with his fingers, sending it even further away. “Um, going to be a bit longer.”

He launched into the air, his wings barely catching the slight breeze in the trees. The machine hopped ahead from branch to branch, the internal gears going haywire and propellers spinning madly. Tony followed closely. He hated to lose his most successful experiment so far.

Again, he touched the orb which bounced off his fingers and into the air. He zipped forward to catch it as the propellers failed. And missed.

“Is this yours?” the other fairy asked.

“What?” Tony asked.

The other fairy hovered in front of him, holding out the orb. Tony blinked twice. He’d never seen a fairy with diaphanous blue wings like they’d been glazed with frost. He didn’t know where to look -- the fairy’s glittering wings or his bright blond hair or his muscled arms or his sweet smile. Tony forgot to flap his wings and fell immediately into a thicket of brambles.

Tony flailed around the thicket until the other fairy, landing gracefully, helped pull him out. Finally on his feet, he brushed off twigs and leaves and inspected the interesting bruise developing on his arm and the smudges of blood where the brambles cut into his skin. Not his best look.

“Uh, thank you,” Tony said. He blinked a couple of times, not sure if the fairy in front of him was even real. And no one could possibly be that beautiful. He adjusted his rough linen tunic covered with grease spots and welding burns, and blew a lock of brown hair out of his eyes. “Hi, I’m Tony.”

“Steve.” Steve handed the orb over. “What is that?”

Tony was already examining the orb to see what went wrong. “Flying machine,” he explained. “My current project. I’ll have to analyze the data from the flight to determine what went wrong. I think a weld didn’t hold, but, you know, magic isn’t the most predictable force in the world.”

Steve moved closer to peer at the orb in Tony’s hands. “This was an accident?”

“A trial run. Not an accident.” Tony shoved what he recovered into a bag he had summoned. 

“That’s amazing -- you put it together like a blacksmith, not just with magic.”

Tony shrugged. “I don’t like magic. Except for the occasional tricky weld.”

“Isn’t that a problem not using magic, being a fairy?” Steve asked, clearly confused.

“I manage. Despite the magic fairy stuff.” 

“Can I?” Steve lifted his hand. “You have something --”

“Yeah.”

Steve gently wiped off grease from Tony’s cheek, smiling shyly at him. Tony stood transfixed with his skin tingling from the brief contact. Then he noticed that Steve was wearing an armored skirt and chest plate with a star in the center, with a sword swinging from his hip. But the wings dazzled him more -- the large blue wings that sparkled with the colors of the rainbow. Or was it Steve’s smile that was the best?

Tony heard Rhodey shouting his name. “Uh, my friend is looking for me.”

“You should go.” Steve shifted his stance, hand ready on the pommel of his sword.

“Yeah, well …” Tony didn’t want to go just yet. He was finding Steve fascinating from the top of his laurel-wreathed head to the bottom of his sandaled feet. Where did he get that shield?

Steve grimaced. He drew himself to his full height and fluffed out his diaphanous blue wings. “You shouldn’t be here -- it’s not that --”

“Tones -- come on,” Rhodey said from behind Tony. “Oh my god.” Rhodey blanched. “Tony, we have to go.” He tugged on Tony’s sleeve. “Now.”

Steve turned sharply at a sound. Rhodey grabbed Tony’s arm and pulled him into the trees. Before Tony could say anything, Rhodey clamped a hand firmly over his mouth. 

Two fairies came into the clearing. “What did you find?” the fairy with a metal arm asked.

“Fallen bird nest,” Steve said, brushing past him. The fairies looked skeptically at Steve but didn’t question him more. “Let’s get going.”

Once Steve and the other fairies were gone, Rhodey relaxed and let Tony go. “You have no idea how lucky you are, do you?”

“What was all that about?” Tony insisted. 

“The Winter Fairies. We’re in their territory.”

“Oh.” Tony hitched the bag handle higher on his shoulder. “Yeah.” He looked back at where Steve had gone. “He didn’t seem dangerous. For a Winter Fairy.”

“Don’t -- please tell me -- you aren’t thinking --”

“He was gorgeous, Rhodey. He liked the orb.”

“He’s the enemy and we shouldn’t talking to him. Let’s go home.”

~~~~~

The Summer Fairy city nestled in a grove of oak trees, with houses and city buildings carved into and built on top of strong roots. Little twinkling lights shone from windows and outdoor patios as the sun set and night settled in. Tony and Rhodey glided over bustling streets as their fellow fairies headed out for dinner, dancing and games in the early summer evening. But Tony was heading home to his own home, a complex three story affair built into a mossy slope at the edge of the city, overlooking a trickling brook that meandered through the grove.

They landed in the patio outside the main part of the house. Rhodey stripped off his light armor and knife, carefully setting them aside on a table that Tony had made for him. Sitting in one of the wicker chairs, he tested the straps on his sandals. 

Tony drew a white-blue figure in the air. “Pepper will be here with dinner soon,” he said, taking the chair opposite from Rhodey. He put his little flying machine down on an end table next to his chair. He was itching to find out what went wrong. But his friends would insist on dinner first before he headed to the workshop. “She’s picking up take-out from the sandwich shop.”

“You do know who that was back in the clearing?” Rhodey asked.

“His name was Steve.” Impatient with curiosity, Tony was rummaging around his patio tool box looking for right-sized screwdriver. “Winter Fairy. Tall soldier-type with a magic shield.” 

“That was the Steve, Captain of the Winter Fairies. He’s the guy that defeated the Red Skull -- remember that huge snake that was terrorizing all the fairy cities a few years ago?”

“Yeah?” Tony carefully peeled off the outer cover of his orb. He could immediately see the problem -- a couple of gears had been knocked out of place. Probably an easy fix..

“King Alexander decreed that any Summer Fairies found in his country are to be killed on sight. Somehow you persuaded the head of his army to spare us.”

“I don’t --” Steve had a smile that rivaled the sun. Tony might even willingly do magic to see it again. “I don’t think he would have -- you know, harmed us. He let us go. And lied to his friends.”

Rhodey shifted in his seat, a wing tapping on the chair frame. “I didn’t say he wasn’t a good guy.” He sighed. 

Tony laughed. “My charm saves us again.” 

“Yeah. If that’s what you’re calling it. When we take that thing out again --” Rhodey pointed to the orb in Tony’s hands, “-- we have to be careful about where we go.”

“Sure thing, Platypus.”

~~~~~

Tony knew better. He knew that he’d been lucky that Steve, Hero of the Winter Fairies, hadn’t killed him on sight. Or worse, hauled him off to the Winter Fairy King in chains.

But he wasn’t going to let Rhodey know. 

Tony had heard stories about the Winter Fairies since he and Rhodey were chubby baby fairies bumbling about with their tiny wings. Fairies had their specific duties and cares for their specific season. The Winter Fairies in their stone fortresses in the far north managed winter in the Forest with the snow and the ice and the harsh winds. Because they were the closest to the Mountains, over time they had fought off threats both physical and magical to all fairies that came down from the hidden spots in the Mountains. All the fairies had come to depend on the Winter Fairies to protect them.

When Ross became King, he asked why that was. He had an army every bit as good if not better than the Winter Fairies. They could just as easily defend their city and not depend on foreign strange fairies with unknown magic who demanded money. Things unraveled very quickly between the kingdoms. 

There was lot more to it. But it hurt to think too long on it.

If anyone asked Tony -- and no one did -- Tony would rather be fighting the threats from the Mountains than the Winter Fairies.

Pepper bustled in with a sheaf of paper floating behind her. Tony barely glanced up from his work table. He was working on an automaton assistant, an arm with wheels, so to speak. “Tony, you have things to sign.” She made the paper dance around his head.

Tony made excellent tools which he sold far and wide. He had somewhere on his desk a rock that glowed from the Savannah Fairies far, far to the south they sent to him for a wagonload of hammers, chisels, and screwdrivers. Sighing, he pulled down each sheet to sign and hand back to Pepper.

“Obie wants to know if you are free for dinner tonight.” She waved a wand to shuffle the papers back into order. 

“He’s going to ask me to do something for Ross.”

Obie had been his father’s business partner and had taken Tony under his wing when Howard died unexpectedly. Tony’s father Howard had been up to his wings in building armaments for the king with Obie. But Tony had moved onto making and building tools and clockwork machines after the accident that damaged his heart, away from the weapons Obie and his father made and enchanted for the king.

“He was insistent. Yes, something for the king.”

“You couldn’t come up with an excuse?”

“I tried death, but Obie didn’t believe me.” Pepper rubbed Tony’s back. “It won’t be that bad. You’ll have dinner, he’ll ask, you’ll say no, dinner will be over and you’ll meet up with Rhodey for drinks.”

Obie was already at the restaurant, seated at a table under twinkling lights strung around the flagstone patio full of fairies. Tony could look below the patio at the fairies thronging the street and look above and catch a glimpse of the full moon through the leaves of trees far above. The usual bustling summer crowd and Tony would prefer to be there in the streets than at a table with Obie who was already two drinks into dinner.

“The king was asking about you today, m’boy,” Obie said. 

“Oh?” Tony pondered the menu. 

“He wants to know if you would submit a proposal about crossbows or a trebuchet that could make a dent in a stone wall.”

Tony knew exactly which stone walls Ross wanted to put dents in. And that Ross would prefer the trebuchet over the crossbows. “Not interested.”

Obie gave him an unbelieving smile that was meant to be charming. “It’s a lot of money, Tony. Plenty to support your little non-magic projects. Come on, that’s not such a bad thing, is it?”

A fleeting thought that he much rather have Steve in place of Obie sped through his mind. Tony couldn’t quite forget Steve’s intrigued smile when Tony mentioned that he was anti-magic. Nearly all fairies Tony had ever met found that idea impossible. Not Steve, for some reason, and Tony wanted to ask him why.

“It wouldn’t hurt to talk to Ross, would it?” Obie asked again. “Indulge an old man this once.” He opened his hands, again with that knowing smile.

Tony changed the subject. “What you are working on these days?”

“Stopping Justin from selling his garbage arrows. Let me tell you about the latest.” Obie gave him a conspiratorial wink as he launched into the latest gossip about the hapless Justin, who didn’t have a patch on Tony’s inventions.

In the end, Tony really couldn’t turn Obie down. He was an old friend, and it wouldn’t take a lot of time out of Tony’s life to talk to Ross. It wasn’t going to get Tony to build a trebuchet. Just enough effort to make everyone happy. He could talk Ross into attacking mountain goblins. Tony could get behind that.

Obie wadded up his napkin. “I should get home, it’s too late for me. Always good to see you, Tony.”

“Good to see you too, Obie.”

He reached over to look closer at Tony’s chest. “Still working?” he whispered. He pointed to the round disk hidden by Tony’s robes.

“Better than ever,” Tony whispered back. He involuntarily glanced down at the disk, a magic battery that kept Tony’s heart beating.

Obie laid a fatherly hand on Tony’s shoulder. “You should get rest. Not stay out all night.”

Rhodey was already at their favorite bar. Tony wasn’t going to keep him waiting. “I’ll be good, dad,” Tony joked.

Tony didn’t end up sleeping. He’d been restless, thinking of how he could get in touch with Steve again. He’d bugged Rhodey a bit too much talking about he could send a message. Rhodey Officially Did Not Want to Know about Tony’s plans to contact their city’s greatest opponent. 

But Tony was haunted by those brilliant blue eyes. Besides it was a fantastic challenge for his little flying orbs.

~~~~~

Steve balled up another piece of paper. He’d been trying to draw that fairy he’d met the other day when he was out on border patrol. Tony. A pretty name. He couldn’t capture how beautiful Tony’s brilliant red and gold wings were with the swirls of sparkling gold over every shade of red, the way that his dark hair curled over his forehead, or why exactly a grease smudge on his cheek made him even more handsome. 

From the first minute he’d ever laid eyes on Tony, Steve thought that Tony was the most gorgeous being he had ever seen in his whole world. Even though he was pulling a flailing Tony out of thicket of brambles at the time. And Tony was bruised and scratched and in a tunic with grease smudges and burns. Still Steve had never seen anyone that beautiful.

He couldn’t get it right, no attempt could capture the shine of Tony’s smile. He pulled out another piece of paper, sharpened up his pencil and tried again. 

Finally he got up and walked around his room, glancing out the window. The Summer Fairy city lay to the south. Steve would rather be there breathing in Tony’s presence, than at home, struggling with art block.

It was wrong for Steve to fall for a Summer Fairy. He knew that down to the marrow in his bones. The Summer and Winter Fairies had been at war for years, ever since King Alexander and King Ross had declared war on each other. The law was clear -- all Summer Fairies were to be brought in chains to the king. Steve as the Captain of the Guard of the Winter Fairies had to uphold the law. 

Steve hoped that he hadn’t done the wrong thing, letting Tony and his friend go. Tony had seemed harmless and his friend had been trying to keep him safe. King Alexander was the strictest of kings. Even Steve with all the honors and accolades he’d garnered over the years would be not be spared his anger if he discovered what Steve had done.

And, no, Tony had not been harmless. He’d been _fascinating_. 

What kind of fairy doesn’t like magic? What was that tiny flying orb Tony was rescuing? When would he get to see Tony again? Was he thinking about Steve?

“Steve?” Natasha asked from the doorway. “Alexander wants to see you. Fury’s back.”

He shuffled the papers around to hide his sketches of Tony. He’d have to answer with blood for anything that had the whiff of a Summer Fairy. 

~~~~~

Contrary to popular rumors that said he didn’t like magic because he was bad at it, Tony could do magic and do it excellently. He just chose not to. The overall idea being that fairies were capable of much more than the pleasant little magic tasks that they did for forest maintenance. Tony was particularly proud of being the first Summer Fairy Engineer, a word he learned from a trade mission to dwarves.

This morning Tony was tinkering with some adjustments to Rhodey’s armor. It couldn’t hurt to have some thicker armor in case Rhodey’s magic failed in the field. Tony stepped back, rubbed his chin and pondered about adding in some projectile weapons. 

“Come over here,” he commanded.

Rhodey was lounging on the long bench-style couch Tony kept in the workshop. He was reading through a stack of reports on something or other. “You still haven’t told me about dinner with Obie last night.”

Tony waved off the comment impatiently. “Ross wants a trebuchet. Obie wants to sell it to him. They both want me to build it.” He slid a wrench back and forth through his fingers. “Try this armor on.”

Rhodey got off the couch in a huff. “Tones, it can’t be good if Obie is involved.”

“Obie wants a better place at court. He was like that when Dad was around -- he means well and he does look out for me.” Tony handed a greave to Rhodey. “How does that fit?”

“A bit tight.”

“Hmm, I can fix that.”

“What did Obie ask you to do this time?” 

“I said -- Ross wants a trebuchet --”

“To attack the Winter Fairies.”

“I assume that’s the reason. Although we should use it to attack an invading werewolf instead. I keep getting these dreams about swarms of goblins burning down the Fairies. We need defenses against that. Not Winter Fairies.” He nearly slammed the greave on the workshop table. 

Rhodey didn’t say anything for a minute or two. “You know, Tony, I try --”

Tony shook his head. “I can strike out on my own. Someone’s got to protect this place if Ross won’t.”

“That’s not the best way to approach the problem,” Rhodey warned. 

Pepper floated in, her white dress swirling around her legs. “Tony! The king wants to see you first thing tomorrow morning.”

“No, tell Ross I can’t. I’ll be out in the field testing these things.” Tony waved in the direction of a pile of small gold orbs. 

“It’s the king.”

Tony sighed. He already had no patience with Ross, who tended to demand he make weapons whenever he saw Tony. Preferably the magic and very deadly kind. “I have nothing to show him right now. Maybe in a couple of days,” he finally admitted. “Do you know what he wants? Maybe Obie could run interference.”

“Obie delivered the message himself to me,” Pepper said. “Ross is insisting.”

“Tell Ross I’ll come by court in two days. I’ll come up with something for him.”

Pepper said, “I’ll try, but you can’t avoid Ross forever.”

“I’m not avoiding, I’m working on something. Very different thing.” They all looked at the pile of gold orbs in a basket on the worktable.

Tony was working on something that Ross would be very disappointed with. 

To be honest, Tony couldn’t stop thinking about Steve and how he had to meet the Captain of the Winter Fairies. Again. Soon. And maybe it was a bad idea. Because who knew if Steve was thinking of Tony the same way. Tony picked up one of his little orbs and rolled it around in his hand. He had big plans for this orb.

~~~~~

King Alexander and his right-hand man, Fury, had an extensive monitoring system along the border of the Forest to warn the Winter Fairies of threats like hawks, trolls, and wolves. Steve had fought them all, including the Great Snow Wolf who had attacked their city directly, destroying one wall. They’d been lucky to win and Bucky had lost his arm in that fight. 

Steve was proud that the Winter Fairy city defended all the other fairy cities from the horrors that came down out of the Mountains. Made sense to him. He’d barely gotten a chance to join the fairy army to begin with -- he’d been scrawny and small when he was young. Then the Red Skull swept through the border, destroyed everything he touched. Phillips the king had been desperate and Steve had volunteered for a special magic spell that gave him strength, abilities and magic.

Many of the tapestries lining the Great Hall celebrated Steve’s victories against the city’s enemies. These days though, he spent his time patrolling the border between the Summer Fairies and the Winter Fairies, watching for the anticipated invasion from King Ross. Steve had a bad feeling about it all. He’d met and befriended a lot of Summer Fairies over the years, and none of them struck Steve as being hostile towards his city.

He’d protested when he came home from an extended trip in the Mountains. Alexander at the time had laughed him off. Steve persisted, but Natasha pulled him aside. “He won’t attack you directly right now when everyone is singing your praises. But he’ll turn on you when you aren’t expecting it.”

Steve ignored her warning and, in a council meeting, pointed out the cruelty of Alexander’s actions towards the Summer Fairies. Alexander cut him off and sent Steve away from the city on a long mission into the dangerous land to the North. Thinking on it, Alexander probably assessed that Steve was still useful, but hoped Steve would be killed. Steve survived and came home again. 

He barely spent any time home now. But, when he was, he had to keep his mouth shut or risk his friends’ safety. Alexander had spies throughout the city, and Steve had heard the rumors of the secret police who ferreted out critics and dissidents. He trusted his friends and lieutenants, Sam, Nat, Bucky and Brock. He still felt safer keeping his thoughts to himself. 

Sam joined him on his way to the council room. “So that fairy you met in the woods last week and can’t stop talking about --” 

“Tony?”

“He’s King Ross’s main weapons maker.”

Steve stopped in his tracks. “What? He said he didn’t like magic.”

Sam shrugged. “Tony is considered very eccentric, but very good at what he does.”

He took a deep breath. He’d already said too much if Sam could tease him like that. If Alexander ever found out that Steve had let Tony go, Steve didn’t want to think about it. It wasn’t that Steve had his head turned by Tony. Steve had a good feeling about him, that Tony was someone worth knowing and worth getting to know better. Even if they’d only exchanged a few words.

Alexander and Fury were sitting at the council room table, deep in conversation. The king stood up. “Captain, good to see you.”

Steve bowed. “Your Majesty.” He glanced over at Fury.

“Steve, have you seen anything unusual or out of the ordinary in your patrols lately?” Fury asked suddenly, never taking his eye off the map in front of him.

“No. I’ve been patrolling the southern border these past few months.”

“Not the northern border?” Fury arched an eyebrow at Alexander.

“The danger is to the south -- where Ross is. We are focusing our efforts there.”

Fury sighed. “We should shift to patrol the north -- something is coming. All the signs and my intel point to it.” Fury had been a councilor to the previous king and even rumored to succeed Phillips. Steve had heard he’d deferred to the legendary Alexander, who had made peace with the trolls for several years, long before Steve was born. 

Alexander shook his head and turned to Steve and Sam for agreement. “Fury worries too much.”

“I have reports that gnomes are fleeing the Mountains, claiming that Thanos is coming.”

Steve frowned while Sam looked puzzled. He nudged Steve. “Thanos?”

“A goblin,” Fury supplied. He held up a slip of paper. “That’s what one of the gnomes said.”

“We haven’t had to deal with a goblin in years,” Alexander replied. “I’m not ready to believe some unspecified, unnamed gnomes who could have their own reasons for spreading rumors.”

Steve asked, “Should I deploy more patrols to the North?”

Alex intercepted the question before Fury could answer. “No, not now. There’s other intelligence we need to review.”

The next day, Fury asked for Natasha, who had skills in spying and interrogating. “He wants to get down to the bottom of this,” Nat explained as she packed for travel. Her wings shimmered in the early morning light. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Sam, Bucky and I are heading south again.”

Nat paused. “Don’t tell me you’re hoping to find that Summer Fairy again, Steve. It’s not worth the risk.” She closed her bag shut with a sigh. “I don’t know why I’m even trying -- you’re going to do what you’re going to do anyway.”

“Stay safe out there,” Steve said.

~~~~~

Steve tucked away a few books on dangerous species in his bag before they left the city. He didn’t know much about goblins, but Fury being concerned to the point of investigating more set off a warning bell. He’d have a week of patrols with his companies. Then he could leave Bucky, Sam and Brock in charge and set off to see if Fury found anything. 

Heading out into the Forest again lifted his spirits as he left the gloomy city behind with its oppressive barracks, houses with dark, empty windows and dull paved streets. Older fairies talked in hushed tones about the old city, the way it was before Alexander when Phillips had been king. Their eyes shined as they talked about crystal halls and gardens of flowers edged with ice and gazebos under the stars. They talked with longing about everything that Steve loved about winter and the colors of winter. 

His orders were clear -- that he was expected to lead his patrols close to the Summer border, over it if possible. Steve suspected that Alexander would be more than pleased if Steve managed to start a fight.

Patrolling without finding anything tended to be boring, and Steve had not yet managed to tune out Bucky and Sam’s running argument about the best sandwich place in the city. Brock was long gone in the opposite direction on his own patrol.

“I’ll go ahead,” Steve said. “See if there’s anything.” He didn’t catch Bucky elbowing Sam with a meaningful look at Steve.

He had a few minutes of blessed silence and beautiful leafy alleys to fly through, then he heard a strange little whirring sound. He turned around and around in the small clearing, trying to locate the source. Which was a gold orb held aloft by rapidly flapping wings. Smiling with recognition, he immediately reached out for it.

“Flies better today, doesn’t it?” Tony asked. Gliding into the clearing on his wings, he landed right next to Steve, with a bright smile on his face. 

Steve weighed the orb in his hand. “But fairies can fly. Why --”

Tony shook his head. “Why not? Could be useful to have a few flying machines -- to send messages, carry packages from city to city. Magic has its limits.” 

“True.” Steve could see the benefit for trade and other things. There were cities far to the east and to the west that were rumors on maps. He once dreamed of traveling to those places, but that would take days and Alexander would not spare him. He lifted the orb and could now hear the clockwork innards clicking away. Tony had to be a genius to make this.

“For example, I could send this to your city.”

“It’s too far away, where the edge of the Forest meets the Mountains.”

“Hmmm, I’ll have to work on it. A guidance system, something like that. But, you know, if I were to send something, what would the address be?” Tony asked.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and looked back at Tony shyly. He was flattered, really, to have Tony’s attention. No one ever flirted with him, and here was Tony, cute, energetic, and easily the smartest fairy Steve ever met. “Um, I don’t have an address -- I live in rooms in the King’s castle, for the Captain of the Guard. Army, actually, but we don’t have generals or things like that.” He wanted the earth to swallow him up, he was blathering on. 

“I can work with that.”

Steve’s heart beat faster and the blood hammered in his ears. “There’s a place near here -- one of my favorite places -- would you like to see?”

“Oh?”

“It’s not far.” Steve paused a minute to write a note to Sam for them to continue the patrol and set up camp and that he’d find them later. He sent off the note with a blue puff of magic. “Let’s go.”

Steve led the way through the tangled floor of the Forest until they came across a small creek. “It’d be easier if we flew along the creek.”

Tony unfurled his wings. Steve had seen Summer Fairies before, but there was something brighter, more special about Tony’s wings with their red and gold swirls. Steve could trace the red patterning and the gold that shone even in the shade of the Forest. He knew he shouldn’t stare and shouldn’t be falling so hard for someone he barely knew, except for a flash of brilliance, a little bit of charm, and a smile that weakened his knees.

He was a strong flier, too. They raced along the creek, Tony sometimes pushing ahead, other times Steve. Tony did barrel rolls, loop-de-loops and circles around Steve. Steve felt intoxicated flying next to Tony, at the rush of air through his air and Tony’s smirk daring him to try another trick. The creek grew into a small river rushing over a rocky bed.

“Woah!” Tony said as the river fell away from them. Steve and Tony landed at the base of the waterfall where the water pooled deep before flowing away. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “I come here when I can.”

“Wait -- let’s sit on that branch there.” Tony pointed up at a branch stretching over the pool.

They sat down on the branch kicking their feet in the air to watch the waterfall and the rainbows from the water spray. “How did you find this place?” Tony asked. He was sitting just close enough to Steve to feel his body warmth. 

“I got lost chasing a cat out of the Forest and found this.” Steve looked away from Tony, suddenly nervous and awkward. “I -- I’ve never brought anyone else here.”

Tony nudged him with a shoulder. “Nice to be here.”

After a few minutes of quiet, Steve asked, “Why don’t you like magic?”

“Never made much sense to me to completely rely on magic to do everything. I like building things, seeing how they work, why things are.”

“But magic helps --”

“Look at this,” Tony said. He opened his tunic to show Steve a glowing blue light in a silver setting in his chest. “Obie and I were traveling on business for King Ross when I had an accident. My wings and heart were damaged and nothing anyone could do could fix them. But I worked up a battery that does the job.” He flapped his wings a couple of times. “I can fly better than ever even.”

Steve nearly reached out to touch the ornament, fascinated by Tony’s handiwork. “What kind of accident?”

“We were walking along a cliff and Obie shoved me out of the way. He saw a hawk aiming for me and wanted to keep me safe. My foot slipped and I fell hard before I could fly.”

“Hmmm.” Steve didn’t know a thing about this Obie, but this didn’t sound good.

Tony laughed. “Lots of fairies have that reaction. I’ve known Obie since I was a kid -- he worked with my father. Now -- about you. Rhodey told me all about you.”

“There’s not much to say. I’m not --”

“You’re famous! You beat the Red Skull, for one thing.”

“That’s what I fight for. To defend my city. To defend other fairies and their cities. That was the purpose of the Winter Fairies. What I still believe our purpose is -- to be strong for the fairies who can’t be.” Steve got lost in his thoughts, thinking about home where things had gone horribly wrong. 

Tony nudged him. “Sounds like something we all can believe in. It can’t be on the Winter Fairies to defend all of us from danger.”

“That’s the way it’s always been.”

“It doesn’t have to. Like magic. There are plenty of other ways to do things, not just through magic. Magic’s just one way of doing things. I can build barriers, nets, warning signals, anything, you name it.”

“Hmmmm.” Steve thought hard. Tony’s idea was surprising but smart. New tactics and strategies would be a good thing. And his city could stop being an armed camp, always ready for war. “I believe that other fairies could help. I don’t know fairies from other cities well enough to know what they can do.”

“Maybe there’s a fairy you’d like to get to know better already?”

Steve choked on his own breath as Tony leaned forward and batted his eyelashes at him. Then they both laughed, setting the branch bouncing. Perched precariously already, Tony lost his balance, nearly falling off. Steve swiftly hooked Tony around his waist. All of a sudden he was so close to breathtakingly handsome Tony, and, oh god, Tony had closed his eyes, lifting his face to Steve. And Steve was so bad at this, and then he was kissing Tony. A soft, quick kiss. He pulled back to look into Tony’s now opened eyes.

“I bet if we had more practice we’d get really good at this.”

Steve’s mouth curled up. “We could.” Then he noticed that sun was lower in the sky. He had to meet up with Sam and Bucky soon. Or else have a good reason why he was late. And he was a terrible liar. “I have to go now,” he said. Seeing Tony’s crestfallen face, he rushed to add, “I don’t want to go. I have friends waiting for me who will look for me if I’m late.”

Tony nodded. “I have friends who are waiting too.” 

They slowly flew back where they had met earlier that day. Tony gave Steve a hug and he felt so right in Steve’s arms that Steve didn’t want to return to a world where he couldn’t hold Tony just like this, Tony’s head on his shoulder and his arm around Tony’s waist, just under those amazing wings, that beat the air in time with Tony’s heart. 

“We’ll do this again,” Tony sighed into his skin. “As soon as we can. We have to.”

~~~~~

Tony tossed and turned all night long. A lot of it was thinking about Steve, his strong arms, the deep voice, the way his forehead wrinkled when he was thinking, how he looked at Tony like he was the most fascinating fairy in the world. He wasn’t entirely sure that Steve wasn’t some sort of mirage or fever dream, because no one could possibly be that noble and perfect. But it was something that Steve said that was running through his mind. It had resonated powerfully within Tony and he couldn’t forget it.

He hadn’t given much thought before to the idea that fairies other than the Winter Fairies could protect the fairy cities until he blurted it out at Steve. And not every threat to fairies came from the Mountains. Tony remembered that owl who menaced his city last year until Rhodey and he drove it away. Or how dangerous the trade routes to T’Challa’s city were. The fairies needed something that didn’t need an entire city devoted to supporting -- that was clearly what was going on with the Winter Fairy industrial-military complex. And Ross wanted their city to follow the same pattern.

Tony had collected information on all sorts of dangerous beings in his notebooks over the years, noting their strengths and weaknesses and how to counter them. Then he thought about the rumors he’d heard about gnomes and snakes and the dark things that crawled out from the Mountains when fairies weren’t vigilant. Like goblins.

He impatiently threw off his sheets. At this rate, he was not going to get any sleep, he might as well head for the workshop. He figured things out better when he worked with his hands. A couple of hours later, after tinkering on his latest design for a clockwork assistant and machining some new gears, his mind was clearing up.

Tony sat on his patio, munching on toast and watching the swift brook sparkle in the early morning light. His thoughts turned again to the idea of a fairy protective force. It made a lot of sense to have more fairies protect their world, a force of fairies pulled from all the fairy cities to defend against extraordinary threats. Rhodey knew fairies, lots of fairies from other cities. He’d have a lead or two on good fairies. He’d need Steve, too.

In the meantime, Tony had a lot of other prep work. He’d have to upgrade his battery and maybe work up some armor for his wings. Rhodey liked the last set of armor. Maybe he could adapt his battery as a power source …. He need to get paper to sketch out his ideas more.

Before he could move, he could hear voices just below the patio, on the path leading to the front door. Obie and someone else. Tony paused. Obie had learned to never come to the house until the afternoon if he wanted to talk to Tony. And the only reason for him to come to Tony’s house was to see Tony. So why was he here? 

“I heard a rumor that Alexander found a goblin,” Obie said to whomever.

“A goblin? No one has seen a goblin in ages.”

“I don’t know about that. But if Alexander has a goblin, we don’t have one. Ross won’t be happy. War is not good for profits.”

Tony nearly gasped. Did the Winter Fairies actually have a gobin? Could you keep a goblin captive?

Obie’s mystery friend asked. “Are you going to tell Ross?”

Obie muttered something that Tony couldn’t hear. “Then Ross will have problems with Tony -- if that kid would only use magic. He was the best at school at it.”

Then Obie and the other fairy walked down towards the workshop level. You could look right into the workshop through the windows. “I’m up here, Obie!” Tony called out as he leaned over the patio wall.

“Tony!” Obie replied. He waved at him. “I came to see you. Do you have anything for Ross? No -- wait -- I’ll come up.”

Tony had the fleeting thought that Obie was not in fact there to see him. Or was distinctly not happy to see him at all that morning. But he had to be wrong -- why else would Obie be there unless to visit Tony? Tony shook his head, he was sounding just like Rhodey.

Later on, Pepper reported a rumor that there was a goblin loose in the Forest. Then it was another rumor that Alexander had captured a goblin. From there, the rumor rapidly evolved into a story about how Alexander was training an army of goblins to attack the Summer Fairies. Tony had given up trying to explain to panicking fairies that Alexander could not keep a goblin captive, much less train one to kill on command or make an army of goblins.

Sense and reason didn’t hold sway with Ross either, who commanded Tony to invent weapons to fight goblins. Or else.

~~~~~

Tony would have gone insane except for his stolen moments with Steve. Steve yearned for Tony, looking up at the moon as he sat in camp, knowing that Tony could see the same moon from his workshop.

They had to meticulously plan for the right moment and the right place. Steve was not entirely master of his own time. If he wanted time away, he’d have to lie to his friends and soldiers; and he was admittedly a terrible liar. And Tony too was now under a spotlight, when he’d been free before. He chafed under the constant pestering from Ross’ aides about his progress, even when Rhodey promised to watch over Tony to spare Tony the surveillance.

They found the slight bits of time when no one else needed them. They snuck off to hidden, secret spots in the Forest that only they knew. And the moments didn’t come as often as either one of them wanted. They reluctantly parted as they promised to stay longer the next time they saw each other. And the feel of Tony’s skin and lips lingered long in Steve’s memory. 

Their routine was ridiculously predictable and Steve lived in dread that they would be found out.

It was simple. 

Being a fairy, Steve had magic. His magic was more of the fighting kind, spells to hit or weaken the enemy or neutralize their magic. He didn’t have the right type of magic to send messages to Tony without being discovered. So Steve had to wait to hear from Tony. 

Steve patiently waited for the orb to appear with Tony’s neat handwriting that told Steve where they could meet. He liked those nice little orbs that clicked and clacked pleasantly when they landed on Steve’s desk.

Then Steve would cast the spell to locate Tony based on the note and fly to him for maybe an hour if they were lucky. After his blissful meeting with Tony, Steve would sneak back home. Hopefully with no one the wiser.

He’d never met anyone like Tony before. He would have met Tony a lot sooner if Alexander had not prevented Summer and Winter Fairies from talking to each other.

Winter Fairies didn’t dare to be friends with Summer Fairies now. Alexander and his secret police made sure of that. But for years before Alexander, Winter and Summer Fairies crossed over their shared borders without a care. They were friends and helpers and business partners and neighbors and fairy families who had intermarried. Steve hated patrolling when he ran into too many terrified fairies, afraid that the Captain of the Guard would turn them over to the king for talking to a cousin or for needing help to glean food from the last harvest. 

Maybe that’s why Steve didn’t entirely trust Brock on his own. Brock was easily one of Steve’s best fairies in fighting. But Sam was the better fairy -- he had a talent for working with others and setting them at ease. An important quality when everyone was jumpy and nervous around the guards. Brock had a way of getting under a fairy’s skin and terrifying everyone they met.

Steve smiled to think of how he could have courted Tony properly. He’d travel to the Summer Fairy city with gifts for Tony to show how much he loved Tony and make note what of Tony liked or didn’t like. Tony would show him his city and he’d show Tony his drawings, all the drawings he’d ever done of Tony. He would like to meet Tony’s friends, get to know his family and show off Tony to all his friends. 

Once he couldn’t imagine living anywhere but the city he’d been born in. Steve had done so much to protect his city. He’d fought the Red Skull, a snake with a red head with a fondness for eating fairies. He remembered how scared he’d been, armed with only a sword, that shield which had been a special gift from Philips and whatever fighting skills he’d managed to learn in a short time. All he could think about were all the fairies back in the city who couldn’t possibly fight the snake and would be trapped starving indoors by a snake ready to destroy them. Steve was the last, best hope for the Winter Fairies.

And he did it. He fought and won. Alexander lavished praise and state dinners on him.

But he could leave his city for Tony. That was a scary thing -- to already love someone so much that’d you do anything for them. That idea about creating a special team appealed to Steve. He could make a home with Tony wherever he was. 

Tonight was no different. The orb came and Steve got the message.

Steve had developed a talent for sneaking out of the city, gliding as silently he could through the dead of night on his wings. Each and every time he worried whether he would get to see Tony again in their grotto near the waterfall or in the glade with the rocks that glistened in the moonlight. Would he hear Tony laughing again as they skipped rocks across the water? Or chase Tony among butterflies along sunlit paths?

A warning constantly sounded in his head reminding him that this couldn’t continue. They both ran too many risks for their stolen moments together. One tiny mistake and they would be caught and lose everything. He knew fairies that would not hesitate to kill Tony in a heartbeat. Maybe this should be the last time. He should tell Tony no. Make sure that Tony was safe and sound somewhere in the world, even if Steve could never see him again. That would be the best thing to do.

He spied Tony sitting on a ledge and dangling his legs in the moonlit water. Steve’s heart clenched as Tony smiled joyfully at him. No, he’d risk everything for Tony. No question.

~~~~~

Steve had been away from home when Alexander declared that Ross and his Summer Fairies were the enemy. He’d spent years on the northern border fighting the Red Skull and his snake minions. Then there was an invasion of huge rats. Then the marauding owl. He’d been away too long when he came home and found the city changed.

He’d been fighting something or other nearly all his life since he became the Captain of the Guard. He’d barely noticed politics. Fury was not a new feature -- he’d been a spy for the previous king, Phillips, even though the spying was aimed at threats and Fury shared the information with other cities. Steve had been away a long time tracking down a wolf in the Mountains when Phillips died and Alexander was named king.

The home he returned to was vastly different than the one he had left. Felt more like a prison than a free city. 

Bucky and Sam talked about leaving and going somewhere better, less restricted. Steve couldn’t leave -- he was doing good work and he was needed. 

Steve had nice quarters that overlooked the city gardens. He’d worked there as a child pulling weeds and picking bugs off the vegetables. Organized teams of fairies were turning over the soil but there was no singing or laughing like he remembered. He decided to go for a walk to clear his head.

Again the city felt dead around him, each fairy having a place to be and being in that place. Tony would stand out here with his flashy wings and that way he had of standing and filling up space. And Steve missed him constantly.

He sat down in a shaded paved plaza and took out a pad of paper, trying to draw and ease his mind. Tony’s idea of a team of specially trained fairies kept running through his mind, a team to solve the problems that faced all the cities.

“Captain Steve? Nice to see you taking the afternoon off,” King Alexander said. 

Steve jumped to his feet and bowed. “Your majesty.”

“No need for that,” Alexander replied with a wave of his hand. “I was walking to the council room.”

“Has there been news from Fury?”

Alexander merely smiled. “I hope that you are enjoying the spring weather, Captain.”

“I am, but I like to be prepared.”

“And I am sure that you will be for any threat, especially from Ross. That’s where our concerns lie.”

Steve couldn’t shake that feeling of imminent danger. That night Steve sat reading maps and reports from patrols. He didn’t like the pattern he was seeing. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. All the reports listed the threat, where it came from and how it was dealt with. Now Steve didn’t think that everything that came out down out of the Mountains was a threat or that every member of species that disliked fairies was going to hunt fairies. Some beings probably had their own business to see to.

What particularly concerned him was that for the past year all the threats came from the same area in the Mountains, along similar paths towards the fairy cities. Like something was making them leave. Like that goblin Fury reported. Steve would have to watch for more news. He hoped Fury would return soon or send Natasha home. 

He needed to prepare to fight a goblin. He had a lot of faith in himself. But he didn’t like his chances right then and there.

~~~~~

Tony was not a stranger to working long days and nights in his workshop on his own projects. But he was dragging his feet on the trebuchet plans. He managed to build a tiny model to show Ross that he was working on the king’s demand.

The other problem was that Obie was stopping by his workshop daily. At first Pepper ran interference, cutting him off before he could interrupt Tony. But Obie cleverly figured out Pepper’s routines and methods and managed to derail her efforts to protect Tony. Now he was a fixture in the workshop, checking Tony’s plans, making notes, and reminding Tony that Ross was waiting on him.

“You shouldn’t let Obie copy your plans, Tones,” Rhodey said one afternoon. “He’s been trying to get a better place at court for years and this could be his ticket in.”

Tony shook his head. “Obie is a businessman -- he was partners with Howard for years. He’s looking after his investments.” He aimed the trebuchet at the wall and missed the exchange of worried looks between Pepper and Rhodey.

Pepper said, “Tony, Ross needs you more than he needs Obie -- but Obie, you know -- he’s more ruthless than you are.”

“Obie can have the weapons business. He knows that. I’m not planning on challenging him on that. I just need to buy Ross off a little while longer.”

“The thing is that Obie may not be seeing it that way -- as long as you’re around, the king will always ask you first.”

“That’s because Ross recognizes quality work.” Tony wound the trebuchet bucket down and let it go, sending three balls bouncing off the wall, hitting the marks Tony set perfectly.

Shame that Steve wasn’t there to see the trebuchet. He’d have loved to have seen the model in action. Tony would love to show off for Steve -- just to see that glint of pride in his eyes that he had whenever Tony did or said something clever. 

A day later, Tony waited and waited for Steve. Sitting on a branch at the side of a crossroads. He’d wanted to meet there to show Steve some crystals he’d found. A leaf fell off a tree. Fall was coming and then winter. They could go skating on a frozen pond or throw snowballs at each other. Would he be able to see Steve during the winter at all if they had no place to meet that was warm but hidden?

He started to pace. Steve had no way to get a message to him. 

Maybe Steve had decided to give up on them. Finally. Steve was too good for him, Tony knew that. But he was going to hold for his dear life until the ride ended. Something this good couldn’t last forever, not for someone like him.

Tony jumped up and down, flapping his wings to burn off nervous energy and banish dark thoughts. It could be a lot of other reasons why Steve failed to come. What if Steve was injured and Tony would never know? What if -- what if -- Steve was dead? 

He gave up and went home, throwing himself into work to avoid thinking of Steve.

~~~~~

“Alexander sent for me and I couldn’t get away,” Steve explained later. 

Tony curled up against Steve and watching the rain bounce off the leaves that made up their makeshift tent. The rain had come suddenly and they’d been caught out. Now Tony was basking in the warmth of Steve’s embrace.

“That’s bound to happen,” Tony said, his sleepy head leaning on Steve’s arm. He yawned. He’d been working day and night until finally, finally he heard from Steve, who risked sending a message by bird. Steve knew a fairy who had a way with birds.

Steve kissed the top of his head. “I wish --” His voice faltered. He hugged Tony a little tighter. “I wish we could be together all the time.”

“You shouldn’t have fallen for someone from the wrong city, soldier-boy.”

Steve snorted. “Doesn’t matter where you’re from, I’d still fall for you. Even if you were a goblin.”

“We could strike out on our own, you know. Head for one of the other cities -- the Autumn Fairies or even the Summer city.”

Tony could feel Steve’s chest rise and fall as he sighed. “Tony, my friends and city depend on me -- I can’t desert my post. Alexander doesn’t like me but he’s not ready to let me go. It’s not that I agree with him or like what he’s done to my city. But I can’t leave when fairies could be in danger.”

“Yeah,” Tony replied sadly. He loved Steve for his loyalty and steadfastness, which was keeping him away from Tony.

“We’ll find a way, I promise. Something will stop this war and madness.” Steve ran his fingers through Tony’s hair, then kissed his face. “We need to hold on.”

“For how long?”

“Long enough. We found each other, that means something, doesn’t it?” Steve entwined his fingers in Tony’s. 

“It will work out,” Tony finally agreed. He wished he could be as optimistic as Steve. 

~~~~~

The next time they met, Steve knew that he had to do something to be with Tony.

They were sitting in a secret garden spot in the Forest, a little space that once been cleared for farming or maybe for a village. Steve’s back was against a tree and Tony had laid his head in his lap. He ran a hand through Tony’s soft, wavy brown hair thinking only thoughts about Tony and how nice it would be to Tony’s guy. 

“Keep that up and I’ll fall asleep,” Tony murmured. They’d spent the past hour flying around the garden, chasing each other back forth until they collapsed in a laughing heap.

“That’s the point, you could use more sleep.”

“Why do fairies always say that?”

Steve laughed, glad to have Tony to himself even though Tony was a touch grumpy from lack of sleep. He got nervous sometimes thinking that Tony might not care as much for Steve as he cared about Tony. 

“I should take you home, for heat during the winter.”

Steve’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t given much thought to the coming winter, just soaking up the time he could have with Tony. Steve usually stayed during the winter, planning and training for the summer campaigns.

“You should come with me,” Steve said. “They decorate the city with fir branches and lights. Everything glitters and shines after an ice storm.”

“That implies we’d be outside, when we should be tucked in bed.”

A sudden heat curled in the pit of Steve’s stomach as he imagined Tony naked in bed next to him in his huge four-poster bed, with a crackling fire and snow and ice battering the windows. They would have to get out of bed eventually to have mug of steaming cider and hot breakfast and he could watch Tony build his miraculous little machines while he drew. 

“Are you okay, Steve?” Tony asked in a worried tone.

“Just thinking of things we can’t have.”

“We’ll figure it out, Steve. You told me that and I believe you. In us.”

They needed to escape. Steve would have to talk to his friends and warn them. Maybe they could all go together. He couldn’t lose Tony.

~~~~~

Something knocked on Steve’s window. Once, twice, three times and the window flew open. A golden clockwork orb. From Tony. The orb flew into Steve’s hand, the wings lowered and a tiny cylinder of paper unfurled. “Meet me at the waterfall in two days. When the moon is full.”

This time Steve regarded the arrival of Tony’s orb with dread. Last time he’d met Tony, he’d wanted nothing more than to strip Tony out of his clothes and -- he blushed to think of what he almost did, what he wanted. And what was worse was that Tony seemed disappointed that Steve didn’t follow through, only kissing Tony good night and sending him home.

Steve had tormented himself since then, thinking he’d missed his chance. He was being watched -- Natasha had sent him a warning message. And Tony barely had any time either. Steve had returned from patrol having not seen Tony at all for three weeks. Now Steve was stuck in the city reviewing plans with Alexander and Fury with no patrol on the horizon.

“You don’t need to worry about clothes if you’re doing the horizontal tango,” Bucky helpfully pointed out.

Steve had confided in Sam, Bucky and Natasha about Tony. Today he was regretting it. His friends were all gathered in his rooms ready to give opinions on his choice of clothes for the next time he met Tony.

“What’s wrong with what you usually wear?” Sam asked.

“Because Steve wears his armor all the time,” Natasha answered. She had returned to the city to give messages from Fury to Alexander.

Sam arched an eyebrow and gave Steve a disappointed look. “Really? You can do better.”

Steve looked at the practical gray and blue tunics and trousers piled on his bed and then at the set of finer wool tunics and robes he wore when summoned by the king. Neither seemed appropriate to meet Tony, who always wore something beautiful and fitting. He reached for a wool tunic, which seemed to be his only option.

“Not that,” Sam and Natasha said immediately together.

“But --”

Bucky pulled Steve away from his clothes. “We have other options.” He patted Steve on his shoulder. “What, think we’d abandon you in your time of need?”

“We’re going shopping,” Natasha declared.

At the end of it all, Steve stood in front of his friends in a diaphanous blue silk robe that wound around his body, showing off all his best assets, and paired with silver arm bands and sandals with a silver laurel wreath in his newly trimmed hair. He did not recognize himself in the mirror that Bucky was holding up.

“Go get him,” Natasha said, giving Steve a push towards the window.

~~~~~

Tony thought he was the one who was running late. But he got there first. He sat down on a ledge over the pool, focusing on the sound of the waterfall to quiet his nerves. Tonight was a spectacular summer night with clear stars in the sky and the air was humid and still hot enough. Perfect night to see Steve.

He knew in his bones that there would be a day when Steve wouldn’t come. And that would be the end of it between them. Steve had reassured him that he would always be there for Tony. He’d warned Tony that Alexander was keeping very close tabs on Steve and it was getting harder and harder for Steve to get away.

Tony got that. Yet all that might be an excuse for Steve to turn Tony down eventually. He knew he was more than lucky to have Steve. And Tony was not a lucky fairy, by any stretch of the imagination. Steve was too perfect and noble for someone like him. It was just a matter of time before Steve disappeared out of his life, leaving Tony bereft of his warmth.

“Tony?” Steve asked as he landed on a ledge below Tony.

He shook his head once, twice, then thrice, unable to comprehend that it was Steve he was seeing before him. His Steve was handsome, but this Steve was breathtakingly gorgeous. Tony swallowed hard as he took in Steve head to toe, wrapped in silk, with silver arm bands and his beautiful sparkling sapphire wings with the red accents and white spots that looked almost like stars. Tony had never seen a more beautiful fairy and this angel was here for him. 

“Tony?” Steve asked again, shaking Tony out of his reverie. “Is everything okay?”

He reached out to Steve. “I’ve missed you.”

Instead Steve tugged Tony down towards him. “It’s been too long,” he said as Tony sank into his arms. 

Tony traced a finger along Steve’s strong jaw. “Where’s Steve and what did you do with him?”

Steve laughed. “I don’t wear the armor for once and you can’t recognize me?”

He answered with a deep lingering kiss and hands all over Steve. “Give me a little time. I’ll figure out your name in a few minutes.”

The sun had long set and now the moon was rising against the backdrop of a thousand stars. They sat on the ledge with their feet in the water and Tony’s head on Steve’s shoulder. Tony rubbed a thumb back and forth on one of Steve’s arm bands, which showed off his biceps more than his armor ever did. 

They grew tired of talking, even after sneaking a few kisses in between stories and news. “Alexander is giving me a hard time,” Steve finally confessed. “I’m finding it harder to come up with reasons to be away.” He kicked at the water. “I’m not good at lying,” Steve admitted. “He’s seeing right through me.”

“Then don’t tell him anything,” Tony sensibly suggested. 

Steve stood up and shook out his wings. “The Captain of the Guard serves at the pleasure of the king. If I didn’t -- I don’t want to talk about it any more.”

The late summer night was warm and humid. Steve stripped off his robes, folding them carefully and setting his jewelry on top of the pile. Tony got an excellent view of his muscled back as Steve dove magnificently into the pool at the base of the waterfall with barely a splash of water.

“Coming in?” Steve asked when he surfaced, his blond hair wet and water trickling down his shoulders. 

They swam in the pool of water at the base of the waterfall. Tony was floating on his back with wings folded closed, listening to the music of the waterfall filling his ears. “We could come up with better excuses.”

“Alexander only cares about work,” Steve said. He swam to the side of the pool and stripped off his small clothes. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

It took Tony a minute or two to realize that Steve was now naked. More than he had been when he drove into the pool. Naked. In the same pool as Tony was. Right then and there. 

Steve swam over to him.

“You’re naked, Steve,” Tony said. Nothing was working in Tony’s brain other than the basic concept that the man he loved more than life itself was now naked in his vicinity. And Tony wasn’t.

“Yeah, I can swim better this way.”

“But naked.” Tony was blushing. He hadn’t blushed like that in years. Or maybe ever. 

Steve was unbelievably attractive. Tony knew that. He’d always known that. But this was different, with Steve touching his arm and smiling at him in the moonlight. Tony lost his his balance and he sank into the water. 

Then, Steve laughed at him and flipped over in the water. Tony felt the drag of his clothes as he tried to catch up to Steve. Not that the pool was a large pool, but Steve teased him by keeping just ahead of him. As soon as Tony caught up to Steve, Steve maneuvered out of his hands.

“You’d be better off without clothes.”

“Now you want me naked, too.”

Steve reached out for Tony’s hand to reel him in. His arms slid around Tony’s waist. “I think about that a lot,” he whispered into Tony’s ear. 

They used their fairy magic to weave a bower out of leaves and twigs in the safety of tree roots on the side of the pool. Steve covered the twig floor with soft leaves, flowers and moss as Tony set up floating twinkling lights. The work took longer than it should have despite their impatience. But they had to touch each other, kissing necks or shoulders or lips, entwining fingers and hands, just holding each other as their looks and touches became more heated and lingering. 

Tony teasingly stripped off his own robes in front of Steve, watching Steve bite his lip and shift uncomfortably. He dropped down to sit next to Steve. “Why did we wait so long for this?” He pressed a kiss to Steve’s lips.

Steve slid an arm around Tony’s waist, pulling him down to the floor with a graceful turn. He gave Tony a devouring kiss that overwhelmed them both. “I don’t know,” Steve confessed, as he kissed down Tony’s neck and across his collarbone and shoulders.

His clever fingers sought out spots to make Tony moan. “I think about you ...” Steve murmured into Tony’s ear as one hand rubbed a circle into Tony’s hip. 

Steve’s wings stretched across the width of the bower, showing that Steve was losing control the more he explored and kissed. Heat pooled in Tony’s stomach, his blood racing and heart pounding as he responded to Steve. 

“What do you think about?” he gasped out as Steve caressed his chest.

“You, like this,” Steve said, his voice rough. And Tony shifted to get Steve to move his amazing hands lower. He was doing this to Steve. “What do I have to do to get you to love me?”

“Wait, what?” Tony asked. He stilled Steve’s hand, even though Steve was headed in the right direction towards his inner thighs. “Steve, babe, I love you more than life itself.”

Steve pulled back to look at Tony now under him. “I shouldn’t --”

Tony put fingers on Steve’s mouth. “Steve, believe in us, believe in me. I want nothing more than to be with you, right here, right now.” He tugged Steve back down. “Let’s get back to where we were.” He put Steve’s hands back between his thighs. 

“I love you,” Steve gasped into Tony’s ear as the friction heated up between them. 

Afterwards, they lay in their bower, satiated and sleepy, watching the floating lights. Tony curled into Steve’s side. 

“Tell me about the stars again, Tony,” Steve said, his voice rough and low. So Tony talked about the stars and the moon and eclipses and comets. He could tell that Steve was smiling at him.

“I don’t want to leave,” Tony said.

“If we created that team you’ve been talking about, we wouldn’t have to leave. We could stay together, work together, build something together.”

“I would like that beyond everything else we could possibly do,” Tony agreed. “But could you leave your city? You’ve always been reluctant before.”

Steve swallowed. Tony knew all about Steve’s friends and how important they were to Steve. He’d been friends with Bucky through childhood and then there was Sam, and Steve couldn’t imagine fighting without Sam in the air next to him. “I could,” Steve finally admitted after thinking a long time. “We’d gain more working together than working apart.”

“We’d get to do this more often.”

“What? Skinny dip at night?”

Tony laughed. “I’ve been drawing up plans for a new place. Better situated than your city and more flexible to respond to any threat.”

They talked longer about the team and their many plans and ideas and what they wanted to do to protect fairies. Tony nearly fell asleep in Steve’s arms. 

“I have to go,” Steve said, pressing kisses to his forehead and head. “I promise that we’ll be together soon.”

“No promises -- you work for a crazy fairy and you don’t know what he’ll do.”

“You do too.”

“I can manage Obie. Ross is getting more demanding.” Tony rolled onto his feet. He kissed Steve. “We have to do this again.”

~~~~~

The longer they saw each in secret, the more reckless Steve and Tony got. Tony didn’t care if fairies talked about him and gossiped about him having a secret lover. It added to his mystique. It was Pepper who cared and worried more. “Fairies want to know what you’re up to,” she said as Tony sorted through his supplies.

“Let ‘em wonder,” Tony said. “I don’t owe anybody any explanation.”

“But Obie asks me and I don’t like lying.”

“You’re not lying if you tell him I’m doing field tests.”

“Is that what you’re doing, Tony? Field tests?”

Tony found the gears he was looking for. “That’s the best explanation.”

“Tony, this isn’t going to end well for anyone. You don’t want to give Ross any leverage over you.”

“I’m not afraid of Ross.”

In all honesty, Tony barely gave Ross a single thought during the day. It was Obie and Pepper who were more concerned about what Ross thought at any given moment. Not that Tony was being willfully ignorant about his king’s wishes and wants. It’s just that Tony was slowly working his way out of making weapons. And that was the only thing that Ross ever wanted out of Tony. The trebuchet would his ticket to get out from under Ross. Then he’d be free to join Steve.

Ross did have a point about the Winter Fairies. For years and years, the Winter Fairies had been the first line of defense against the threats that came out of the Mountains. When Alexander became king, he demanded tribute from the other cities. Ross was immediately offended while the other cities paid. Alexander threatened to pull protection from the Summer Fairy city and not lift a finger if an owl or a snake slipped past the Winter Fairies and attacked the Summer Fairies.

Year by year, the hostilities between the two cities grew to the point that they were willing to go to war.

Tony craved Steve, missed him like anything when he couldn’t see him. Steve had predictly rightly that Alexander was ramping up his plans against the Summer Fairies. Since their night at the waterfall, Steve was now constantly patrolling the southern border. Alexander was spreading rumors that Ross was plotting an invasion. Tony knew that It was killing Steve being away from home and from Tony. Steve had told Tony that Alexander was wrong and that the real threats were coming from the mountains on the northern border.

So Tony was taking more risks to see Steve, if only for a short time, just to kiss him and run a hand through his hair, maybe slip him a piece of better armor. 

All of Tony’s thoughts were occupied with Steve and their plans and getting away from Ross. So he never saw the warning signs. Tony didn’t see that Obie was only waiting for Tony to make one little slip, the wrong mistake, so that he could stick the knife in and start the unraveling of Tony’s life. 

He was working on a piece of armor for Steve when Rhodey came by. He waved to Rhodey with the wrench in his hand. “What’s up?” he said. 

“Tony -- have you heard from Obie?” Rhodey asked bluntly.

Rhodey didn’t trust Obie. After his accident, Rhodey had warned Tony that Obie had tried to actually kill Tony, not save his life. Until not saving Tony looked like he wanted Tony to die. Tony loved Rhodey to pieces, but it was ridiculous to think that Obie wanted to harm Tony. Obie had filled in for his father after Howard died when Tony was young, helping to managing the work of Tony’s forge and workshop when Tony took over the family business. The only problem that Tony had with Obie was Obie’s tut-tutting over Tony’s rejection of magic. 

“No. Not today.” Tony puzzled over that for a minute. Obie had been a fixture in the workshop all summer and now Tony couldn’t remember when he’d seen him last.

Rhodey leaned against the worktable, nearly upsetting the pile of messaging orbs Tony had built that morning. Steve had a few days of leave, likely the last leave he’d have before the winter, and they planned to spend as much of that time together at the waterfall. Tony hoped that Steve would agree to leave with him soon. 

“Tony -- do you leave these out?” Rhodey asked. He carefully put an orb back on top of the pile.

“Yeah. I have to have a supply on hand.”

Rhodey sighed heavily. “Tones, Obie could have seen these.”

“He wouldn’t know what I’m using them for,” Tony replied. “I did make them as messaging orbs -- Steve is a side project. He doesn’t know about Steve.”

“Wait -- is that for Steve?”

Tony held up the armor chest plate proudly. “It’s better than anything he has now.” Tony was going to sleep better at night knowing that Steve was better protected. “He’s got armor that’s like tissue paper.”

“Promise me you’ll watch out for trouble, Tony. If Obie’s convinced Ross that he can manufacture weapons like you can, Ross doesn’t need you and there’s goes all your protection.”

“Fine, Dad, I’ll be careful.”

When Tony set out to meet Steve, he didn’t notice the strange bird that followed him all the way to the waterfall. He spent an exhilarating afternoon with Steve, plotting out their escape together and longing for the time when when they would be together. Tony, caught up in Steve and their plans, flew back home, still tracked by the mysterious bird.

Tony arrived back home, using a hidden entrance. He’d at least kept some sense of not wanting to be found or obvious about his plans. The King’s Guard was waiting for him.

“Rhodey’s not here,” Tony said breezily to the fairies gathered in his living room.

“We’re not here for Captain Rhodes,” the chief guard said. “We are arresting you on orders of the king.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“We have reliable information that you have been fraternizing with the enemy and possibly selling state secrets.”

Stunned, Tony stood still as the guards handcuffed him and took him away. He insisted on talking to Pepper and Rhodey but the guards pointedly ignored him. They dragged him out of the cart and presented him to the king.

Ross sat at the top of his long, black wooden conference table in a cavernous empty hall. Tony was pushed down into a chair at the other end of the table. Ross gave him a thin smile. “Tony, what a lovely day for a visit.”

“This was not a voluntary visit. If you wanted me to visit, all you had to do was ask, not send your guards.”

“Guard, remove the handcuffs.”

Tony rubbed his sore wrists while Ross continued to study him. “What do you want?”

Ross sighed and steepled his fingers. “Not much, Tony. All I ask from my subjects is a little consideration and loyalty.”

“Loyalty?”

“I am very aware of where you spend your spare time and with whom.”

“I spend my time with lots of different fairies.”

“Not all of them are Captain of the Winter Fairies Guard.”

Tony was left speechless as he struggled to find the right response. “That’s nonsense. It’s very clear that we’re not supposed to fraternize with the enemy and definitely not with high-ranking members of Alexander’s court.”

“I have proof, Tony, supplied by a loyalist to the crown. I could follow through with the usual punishment and have you flayed in public. You may have no respect for magic. But really, what is a fairy who loses their wings?”

Tony felt his blood run completely cold at that. Public flaying would destroy his wings. He couldn’t imagine never flying again. Ever. “What do you want?”

“I am going to send you back to your house. You will say nothing to anyone about our talk today. And you will build the weapons I ask you to build. No more of this nonsense with clockwork arms or communication orbs. Weapons to defeat the Winter Fairies. That’s what you’ll give me.”

One of the guards pushed Tony to his feet. “Take him home. I’ll send my list of expectations later today.”

As the guards moved Tony, Ross came up to him. “We are watching you, Tony. If you even so much think of contacting your ‘friend,’ I will put you in a cell in my dungeon so deep that you’ll think that sunlight is a myth. And you can make weapons for me there.”

The guards took Tony back home, walked him into his living room and left him there. Then they left sentries on patrol outside his house. While he was gone, Ross had sent workers to block up every possible escape route out of Tony’s house.

“Tony, what did you do?” Pepper asked.

Tony sat still and pondering. His first instinct was to contact Steve. Terrible idea -- Ross didn’t say it, but Tony could guess that the next time he saw Steve, Ross would nab Steve. Or worse, kill him. Oh god, Tony didn’t want that to happen. He couldn’t put Steve in that danger.

Rhodey tried to help the best he could. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose when Tony confessed to seeing Steve. “You have no idea how wonderful Steve is.”

“I don’t need to know that. All I need to know about Steve is that Steve is the enemy. I warned you, Tony.”

“I need to escape, Rhodey.”

“Not with those guards out there.”

Tony didn’t do anything when Ross sent him the weapons plan. Obie had an opinion on that. “You need to do what the king asks, Tony.” 

Tony continued to fiddle around his workshop under Obie’s disapproving eye. “I’m not being blackmailed.”

Obie sighed. “My boy, you take too many risks. Make the king happy and you’ll be fine. Or you’ll end up in the dungeon.”

Tony grew restless over the next few days. He made some effort on working on the plans because he found out in an unpleasant way that the guards were reporting on him to the King. Meanwhile he plotted a way to escape. He didn’t think much past meeting Steve at the waterfall. They would have to make their break for it now, instead of waiting for the perfect time.

He had been taking notes about the guards’ routine. He had Pepper report back on where they were located, how far a distance they were from the house, and anything else she noticed about their patterns. 

“Tony, please let me you’re not planning anything stupid.”

“I’m not planning anything stupid.”

“Somehow I don’t find that particularly reassuring. Ross is letting you stay in your house --”

“I’m a prisoner, Pepper. He’s forcing me to make weapons. I can’t do this.”

Then he noticed that there were fewer guards and he wondered how long that was going to last. He discovered there was a short window of time that the guards’ shift overlapped when no one was close by, only observing part of the house from a distance. It was an opportunity he could exploit. All he had to do was to send an orb to let Steve know where he was. Then escape during that window of time. 

He had a plan and he had to see Steve again. 

Pepper continued to fret. She watched Tony build another orb. “Tony -- you can’t.”

“It’s just an orb.”

“Don’t you wonder how Ross found out?”

Tony paused. Someone could have followed the orb. “I’ll make this orb better -- something to shake off a tracer spell …”

“Obie is setting a trap for you.” She pointed to the pile of blueprints on the workshop. “All Obie needs are your plans -- he’ll find fairies to build your machines. He’s laying a trap for you. You break out of house arrest, see Steve -- there’s nothing anyone can do to save from Ross’s wrath. You could end up dead.”

Tony patted Pepper’s arm. “When I see Steve next, I won’t be coming home.” He smiled. “No trap. No Ross. No anything. I’ll leave everything to you.”

“I don’t want your stuff, Tony. I want you alive.”

“I don’t have a life without Steve.” 

~~~~~

Steve worried about Tony. Tony himself was not worried, of course. Steve could tell Tony had very little fight training and seemed to have a blind spot about the fairies he trusted. Not that Steve wanted Tony to stop trusting him. He wanted Tony not to trust Obie. But Tony wouldn’t hear of it.

Tony would be safe living with the Savannah Fairies in the far south. He’d be out of harm’s way there while hopefully Steve stopped the goblin.

Because Steve believed Fury when Fury told him about Thanos. And Steve had done his own research about goblins. 

He sat in the council room listening to Fury and Alexander argue about his next mission. Fury and Steve wanted to go to the north to investigate. Brock was also in the room. He had been handling the southern patrols while Steve carved out time for the northern patrols. 

“Shouldn’t we give the king the benefit of the doubt?” Brock asked during one particularly tense moment.

Fury gave him an incredulous look. “It doesn’t matter what Ross does or doesn’t do if a goblin destroys us all.”

“Indeed, that is true,” Alexander agreed. “I expect that Ross will have heard about the goblin by now. He could be angling to take advantage of our situation. We should eliminate him before the goblin comes.”

Fury drew himself together. “I don’t think that we’re going to get a warning before Thanos arrives.”

“We will talk about this later. I have other business waiting.” Alexander dismissed them all.

Fury and Steve walked out of the council room together. “You haven’t found out more?” Steve asked.

Fury shook his head. “I remember a time when … it doesn’t matter.”

“Why does Alexander hate Ross so much?”

“They’re the same -- both want to be the prime Fairy. We’ve always been the most important of the fairy cities since we protect the border. Ross made it clear when he became king that he had big ambitions for the Summer Fairies. The Summer Fairies opened new trade routes, became middle-fairies for spell sales, that sort of thing. They’re ridiculously wealthy fairies.” Fury paused. “It worked for them, but Ross wanted to be recognized as the top king. Which is odd, considering that the Spring Fairies don’t even have a king.”

“The fairy cities were created to be equal,” Steve asked in confusion.

“Doesn’t mean that it’s like that in the real world.” Fury shook his head. “I have to find solid, indisputable proof that Thanos is coming.”

In the morning, Alexander summoned all his councilors and all his officers to the great hall. Steve stood uncomfortably in his armor and listed to Bucky and Sam behind him swapping rumors about the meeting. It was likely to be a big announcement, given that Alexander loved understated public performance and rarely used the trappings of being king to deliver his message. Brock was nearby, at a slight distance away from Steve and the others. He had been avoiding Steve since the council meeting the day before and even now he couldn’t look Steve in the eye.

Alexander swept in. Lacking a crown and dressed in everyday wear, he still commanded every eye in the room. He declined to sit on the throne and stood at the top of the hall, his personal guards standing off to the side. “Good to see so many of you today,” he said with his wintry smile.

Steve glanced over at Fury, whose face was unreadable. Maria, his second-in-command for the King’s Spies, was equally unreadable. 

“As you all know, the Summer Fairies have been building up their army and the armaments. Their chief weapon designer, a fairy called Tony, has created a trebuchet that can take down our walls. Ross is on the verge of declaring war and we must counter him. We direct our famous Captain, our most decorated hero, Steve, to prepare our army and march to the southern border.”

Steve bowed low to acknowledge Alexander’s command. Alexander seemed pleased enough as he gave Steve a warm look. But Alexander was not done.

“In a time of war, we must have loyal subjects or else we shall fail, despite all our advantages. To that end, we banish Fury and any that believe his lies about possible threats from the North. We all know that Ross will be worse for us than any undefined rumor from the north. That is all. Go about your business.”

Fury and Maria were gone to parts unknown within an hour of Alexander’s declaration. The only one in on the secret, Natasha, was on the fence about joining them. “I can do some good here,” she said from her chair in Steve’s room.

All of his friends sat or stood in a gloomy mood in Steve’s room, Steve the gloomiest of them all. Sam said, “We could go to the Spring Fairies -- I hear that they’ll let anyone move in.”

“And leave everyone else to Alexander’s mercy?” Nat asked. 

Bucky frowned. “Leaving isn’t good and staying isn’t any better. I signed up to fight owls, not other fairies.” 

Sam tapped Steve’s shoulder. He said as quietly as he could, knowing that even if they were in Steve’s room, they weren’t safe from spies. “What are you going to do about -- you know, your friend?”

“I have to warn him,” Steve said. 

Steve already had the message ready to go. Tony would be safe in T’Challa’s city to the far south. Tony had already been there and Steve had a lot of faith in T’Challa as a good ruler of the Savannah Fairies, having met him a few times.

A gold orb tapped the window.

“Is that from your friend?” Natasha asked.

Steve held the gold orb. It was more damaged than he’d seen one before, with scrape marks around where the miniature paper cylinders were kept. It didn’t look right, but he’d been desperate to hear from Tony. The message was to meet at the waterfall during the day. 

He nodded. “I’ll handle this.”

“Steve --” Sam warned.

“I know. I know.”

~~~~~

Steve made excuses about why he wasn’t going to be in the city for a few hours. Something about checking the roads. He fervently hoped that others didn’t find his excuse as flimsy as he did when he told his guards. At least Bucky and Sam would cover for him. As he flew out of the city, he checked behind himself to see if he was being followed. 

He landed in the soft grass at the edge of the river and looked for Tony. If Tony had gotten there first, he usually waited on the river bank, feet in water, tinkering on one of his clockwork creations. Steve would have been happy to see him now instead of fretting over when Tony was going to get there. 

“Cap?”

Steve whipped around. That was definitely not Tony. “Brock? What are you doing here?”

“That sounds like a question I have for you.” Brock stood warily across from Steve.

Steve had served with Brock for years and he was one of Steve’s most trusted lieutenants. But he would not have told Brock about Tony -- the fewer who knew the better. “This is my personal business.” The hair stood up on the back of Steve’s neck. He could feel the impending attack coming as Brock nervously shifted on his feet. 

“It’s not personal if you’re meeting with the enemy.” Brock lifted his chin in the direction of Tony gliding into the clearing. Tony had a big smile on his face and Steve’s name on his lips.

“Get out of here, Tony,” Steve said, never taking his eyes off of Brock. He’d trained with the fairy for years, knew his moves, where he was likely to strike first. Steve didn’t know what Tony was capable of other than his inventions and he’d never seen Tony fight. 

“Steve? What’s going on?”

Brock’s mouth curled into an evil smirk. “I’ve been waiting for the crack in that armor, Cap. No one could possibly be as good as you.”

Steve moved to stand in front of Tony. He could take whatever Brock was planning to dish out. “Go away, Brock.”

“What are you trying to hide? Your Summer Fairy friend?” Brock huffed out a laugh. “You aren’t getting out of this one that easily, Cap. You know what Alexander will do to you.”

Steve had seen the dank, drafty cages that Alexander kept his prisoners in and what the guards did to them. It wouldn’t matter what Steve had ever done for the Winter Fairies, all the battles and sacrifices for his city when the king found out about Tony. Steve would be no different than the last fairy who dared to be openly friendly with a Summer Fairy. He’d seen what happened and it was unspeakable. Steve took a deep breath. They would do the worst to Tony and he couldn’t let that happen.

“Tony, you need to go. Now.”

“I should tell Alexander -- he’ll make me Captain of the Guard and general of his army -- I deserve it for all the work I’ve done for him. You’re not the only hero in the city.” Brock sneered at Tony. “I thought you were plotting against Alexander and I was going to find you here with Bucky and Sam. It’s worse than I thought. It’s shameful that you’re throwing everything away for _that_.”

Tony was not a thing. Steve was never going to be ashamed of Tony. Ever. He studied Brock carefully, waiting for the first lunge and first attack. He summoned his shield, ready to deflect any blow from Brock. But Brock was quick. He went for Steve’s legs. Steve was forced to drop the shield.

They threw vicious punches at each other. Tony scrambled to get out of the way of the grappling Steve and Brock. Steve’s wings had been damaged, blood streaking the now-muted blue and white scales. But he wasn’t yielding a bit of ground to Brock. They pushed back and forth, scrambling over grass and rocks, little flashes of magic blinking around them.

“I yield, Cap,” Brock said. He dropped his grip on Steve, stepped back and wiped blood off his arms. 

“Get out of here,” Steve snarled. He stood on the rocks on the bank.

Then Brock suddenly lunged forward, landing full force onto Steve’s body, knocking Steve down and out on the ground. He then kicked Steve’s unconscious body viciously until Steve rolled, unmoving, into the swift current of the water. “Good riddance. Now you --”

Tony barely had gotten his mind around the fact that Brock had killed Steve. Steve, who had been so alive just a few minutes ago. He stood rooted to the ground, still expecting somehow for Steve to crawl out of the water and take out Brock. 

Brock moved menacingly towards Tony. Tony raised his hand. “Get back.”

“I’m not afraid of some weakling Summer Fairy ...” He came closer.

Tony blasted him with the repulsor beam, a new little innovation he’d been excited to show Steve. Brock fell backwards.

_But Steve was dead now._

He turned and fled before he could see what he’d done to Brock. He flew mindlessly through the Forest, desperate to run from his attacker and from what had happened to Steve. Because of him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Brock to see you, your majesty,” a guard announced to Alexander.

Alexander closed the books he was reading. “This is unexpected,” he said to the fairy.

Brock had managed to clean himself up, hide the bruises and cuts Steve had given him, and he was glad that his wrist had been sprained, not broken. Overall, he had escaped the fight with Steve with far less damage than he thought. He bowed low to Alexander. “I am sorry to interrupt your solitude, your majesty.”

Alexander looked intrigued. “Go on.”

“I regret to report that the great hero of our city has betrayed us. Captain Steve was acting suspiciously, so I followed him. He had a secret meeting with a Summer Fairy -- Tony, who makes their weapons. From what I hear, Steve has been acting mysteriously, oddly, for months. I feared perhaps our enemy had cast a spell on Steve.”

“Hmmm. You should have brought this to me earlier. We could have taken measures to release Steve from any damaging spell.”

“I did not know at the time, but now I believe that it was not a spell. I offered Steve help when I saw that he was meeting with the Summer Fairy who had seduced him to their side. Steve refused me, and it was soon clear that Steve was meeting this fairy of his own free will.”

Alexander nodded solemnly. “Continue.”

“We fought and I overcame him.” Alexander raised an eyebrow at that. “It is the truth, your majesty. Steve fell into the river, drowned, and his body was washed away downstream.”

“Better that he die that way than facing a trial for treason.” Alexander got up and paced back and forth. “We will announce that Steve died trying to save the city -- I’ll come up with some reason later -- and we will give him a hero’s burial.”

Brock said nothing.

“Do not look at this like a betrayal of what happened. There will be those who will not believe that he was a traitor and he is dead and I can use that fact -- that he died heroically trying to prevent war with the Summer Fairies, but was ultimately betrayed by our ancient enemy when he attempted a meeting. With my approval, of course.” Alexander paced back and forth again. “I will have my chancellor handle the funeral. As for you, Brock, I suspect you want a reward.”

“I only serve my city.”

“Do not assume that you can hide your true nature from me, Brock. I know you and fairies like you. But you are a good fighter and loyal. I will announce that you will be the next captain of the guard. Now go and make your arrangements.”

The funeral was conducted as perfectly as a funeral for a dead legendary hero could go, with a very moving eulogy from the king himself talking about how heroically Steve had died. Sam and Bucky sat stoically in the front, well known as long time friends of the dead hero. Nat blended well into the crowd, better to conceal her thoughts on the matter.

She had barely managed to get to Steve’s quarters before Alexander’s fairies had. She had packed up all of Steve’s sketchbooks and destroyed his collection of orbs. Rumors that Steve had died protecting a Summer Fairy were floating around the city, no doubt started by Brock. There was no need to add fuel to the fire.

As she finished her sweep of the room, she found a sketch of Tony that Steve had stowed away with his other private belongings. Holding it, she remembered how Steve talked about Tony, the fascination in his voice, how he longed to see him. Nat hoped that Tony had treated her friend right -- Steve must have loved him deeply to be willing to risk everything he had just to see Tony. The sketchbooks certainly showed that. So many sketches of Tony in every position from sitting to full flight. She also grabbed Steve’s medals and a few other personal items, things that Steve would not have wanted to fall into others’ hands.

Bucky and Sam were drinking a toast to Steve in Sam’s room. “Steve would have hated that funeral,” Sam said just as Nat burst into the room. 

“Quick, pack up everything you want to keep that is easy to take on the road.” She threw a knapsack at Sam.

“What’s wrong, Natasha?”

“If we don’t get going, Alexander or Brock will disappear us. My money is on Brock -- Alexander won’t care one way or the other about you two. He’s had me under surveillance since he exiled Fury.”

“Right.” Sam immediately threw clothes in the knapsack as well as his own medals and other possessions.

“Wait -- Nat -- you suspect Brock was behind this? Not Alexander’s special assassins?” Bucky asked.

“Brock has been trying to get Steve’s job for years. I don’t believe for one second that he didn’t have something to do with Steve’s death. And I can’t believe that anyone would think that Ross killed Steve over negotiations for a secret peace treaty. Steve -- though I loved him like a brother -- was not the fairy I’d trust secret negotiations to.”

They snuck out of the city within an hour of Steve’s funeral. “I hate leaving the city like this,” Sam said. “Sneaking out like thieves.” They were hiding in the undergrowth.

“Alive thieves,” Nat corrected him. “Fury is going to need our help.”

Bucky was watching out for any stray patrols. “That’s funny -- I would have thought we’d run into a patrol by now.”

“They’re getting ready to invade the Summer Fairies’ territory,” Sam said. “They have the perfect excuse now.”

“Won’t matter when Thanos gets here,” Nat said. She muttered a couple of spells. “Let’s get going.”

“Are we joining Fury?”

“No. We’re going to the Autumn Fairies -- I have a friend there who can help -- Clint.”

~~~~~

Tony hadn’t gotten far from the waterfall when he bumped in to a group of Summer Fairies. He was admittedly surprised to see them -- he never seen his fellow fairies this far away from the city. They were armed and clearly looking for something. Did Ross declare war while Tony was away from the city? 

“The road’s back there,” Tony pointed out.

“We’re hunting.”

“Then you’re really in the wrong spot for that,” Tony said. His head was still spinning. He couldn’t go back home -- Ross would only continue to destroy Tony’s life. He couldn’t make weapons to war on other fairies. Especially after Steve’s death.

“No, we’ve got what we’ve wanted.”

Now that his head was clearing, Tony finally recognized a couple of the fairies who’d worked for Obie. Oh, his escape from house arrest was not entirely due to his own ingenuity. Obie had let him go. For this. He reeled from the blow.

“You’re bringing me back --”

“Not bringing you back.” The lead fairy lifted a spear aimed at Tony.

He’d have to figure out later what Obie was up to. He should have enough juice in the tank for another repulsor blast. No one was going to rescue him, it was totally up to him to save himself.

Rhodey dropped out of the air and landed in the middle of the hostile fairies. They made short work of the shocked fairies who hadn’t recovered from Rhodey’s ambush. Rhodey brushed off dirt from his armor. “Good to see you in one piece, Tony.”

“What’s going on here, Rhodey?”

Pepper stepped out from the underbrush. “Ross wanted to recapture you and keep you making weapons. Obie had different plans.”

Rhodey leveled a hard look at Tony. “Tones -- you have to know by now Obie has trying to take your business and fortune away from you. He thinks anyone can do what you do because you don’t use magic.”

“You know that’s wrong, right?” Tony said indignantly. 

Rhodey and Pepper exchanged a meaningful look. “Yeah. But you can’t go home.”

All that happened was starting to sink into Tony. Steve. Obie. All of it. “No, we can’t,” he said bitterly. He guessed he’d sort of known about Obie for years. But to have it play out like this. He looked down at the five unconscious fairies sprawled out around them. “He really was going to kill me. Obie, that is.”

“Obie’s been trying to kill or get rid of you for years,” Pepper said.

“He quickly volunteered to find you when Ross discovered that you’d escaped. Too quickly, as far as I was concerned. So I got Pepper and we decided to follow Obie’s fairies. Obie had no intention of returning you back to the city alive.”

Pepper tapped Tony’s shoulder. “We should get going -- we’re not far from the Winter Fairies. And we don’t know where Ross’s other scouting parties have gone.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Tony sank down on the forest ground. “Obie is one thing. But Steve’s dead.”

“Tony,” Pepper exhaled. “How?”

Tony told them what happened, tears now finally springing to the corners of his eyes. Now that he could feel the weight of Steve’s death. He wasn’t going to see Steve’s smile or hear his voice or hold his hand again. They weren’t going to escape together and start over again. Tony had a great belief in the power of the future and now he had nothing and all that he’d planned was dust in his hands. 

_Steve was dead._

Rhodey gently pushed his shoulder. “We have to go. Ross has other fairies looking for us.”

“Steve,” Tony sobbed, rooted in place by grief.

Rhodey knelt down next to Tony. “Tony, from what you told me about Steve, Steve wouldn’t want to you to give up right now. He’d want to you to live.”

Tony took a deep breath and leaned into Rhodey. “We didn’t have any time together.”

“I know. I know. But you got to meet him, that’s something right there. You’ll always have that.” Rhodey helped Tony stand. “He made you happy and that means he was a special fairy in my book.”

“Where can we go? Can’t go home,” Tony said. He still felt defeated and kicked around and filthy, and now he felt sore and bruised from the fight with Obie’s fairies.

Pepper pulled out a map from her little magical bag that contained everything she ever needed. Tony was convinced that the thing was a bottomless pit with an inventory system. “We should go to the Spring Fairy city.”

“The Spring Fairies?” Rhodey said with a frown. “It’s anarchy there.”

“If we go to the Autumn Fairies, we’d have to cross through the war.”

“It hasn’t started yet. What about the Savannah Fairies?”

“That’s a long journey even in the best of times when we have the equipment and the transportation.”

Tony waved his hands. He was too tired from this and he didn’t have the strength needed for long flights at that moment. “Spring Fairies it is.”

Rhodey grumbled but followed Pepper and Tony as they took to the air. “Lead the way.”

Tony projected a map for them to follow. He hoped to get there before morning. He’d need rest and food and then he’d find a way to avenge Steve.

~~~~~

The Spring Fairies were famous for not being like the other fairies. If you were a fairy and you lived in the city, they called you family and a Spring Fairy. It didn’t matter where you came from, what your markings were, who your family was, you were a Spring fairy when you were there. Or ever lived there. 

Tony had always been intrigued by the city. He’d briefly thought about moving to the city when he’d first decided magic wasn’t the be-all thing that other fairies thought that it was. Rhodey had a decidedly different opinion about Spring Fairies, not quite seeing the attraction.

Tony, Pepper and Rhodey arrived at the city gates bedraggled, worn, dirty and bruised. The flight through the underbrush had taken its toll. And hungry -- they were very, very hungry.

A man, the largest fairy Tony had ever seen, was working on the gates. He shouted at them, “Come in, come in! You look like you could use a rest.” He had flowing gold hair and gold wings and wore a sleeveless vest with a hammer tucked in the belt. “I am Thor!” He threw his arms around Rhodey’s and Tony’s shoulders.

Thor brought them to a large, airy hall. Within an hour, Tony had had a warm bath, his wounds dressed, and now was sitting in front of table groaning under the weight of the food on it. Their new friend poured mead into Rhodey’s stein. 

“Are you king here?” Tony asked. Come to think of it, he’d never heard of the Spring Fairies even having a king. Or any form of government. That could be a big part of why Rhodey was suspicious of them.

“No! We have a council. Once you are rested, they would like to meet you.”

The council had gathered in a large open-air area in the middle of the city and were sitting on stone chairs in a semicircle when Tony and his friends were brought in front of them. Thor was sitting among the council. There was a blonde woman dressed in red, gold and blue and a dark-haired, distracted looking man writing on parchment and another man in gold from head to toe with matching gold eyes. The other seat was empty.

Thor helpfully introduced them as refugees from the Summer Fairy city. The crowd murmured behind them, and it didn’t sound positive about Summer Fairies.

The blonde fairy in red, gold and blue -- Carol, by name -- spoke. “All I care about is whether you will help us when Thanos comes.”

“Thanos?” Tony asked. “The goblin?” Steve had mentioned him before.

“Aye,” Thor said. “The Winter Fairies have abandoned their duties and left us all vulnerable to the threats of the Mountains. We need all who are willing to help.”

A fairy with an eyepatch stepped forward. “Thanos is the biggest goblin we have ever seen.”

“The Winter Fairies have not stopped him?” Rhodey asked.

“I served the Winter Fairy King, Alexander, and warned him about this threat. He ignored me and sent me into exile.” 

“That doesn’t sound promising,” Tony agreed. 

“If it was not for Fury, we would not know that we are in danger,” Thor said. “Thanos will destroy us all.”

Carol said, “We had hoped that Captain Steve could lead a force against the Goblin, like he had against the Red Skull. He is our best hope if all the legends are true.”

The fairy with the eyepatch -- Fury, Thor had called him -- said, “I know Steve well and, yes, he is everything that the legends say.”

“He’s dead,” Tony said bluntly to the gasps of the crowd. 

“Dead?” Fury asked in shock.

“I saw it -- Brock, I think that was his name, killed Steve in front of me.” Tony closed his eyes, shuddering at the memory of Steve slipping into the river.

“Brock was always a miserable bastard,” Fury said.

“Then we are truly on our own and we must prepare for the fight of our lives,” Thor added. “Will you fight with us?”

Tony and Rhodey shared the briefest of glances. “Count us in.”

“I have a workshop for you,” the distracted fairy with the parchment told Tony. 

It didn’t take as long as Tony as expected to set up a new workshop. Bruce understood immediately without much explanation what Tony needed. “I’m a scientist myself,” he explained when he brought the first box of tools.

Tony got on with Bruce like a house on fire. All day they talked about science and engineering and whether magic was worth it or not. “Strange wouldn’t agree with our assessment,” Bruce said. “He’s a powerful wizard -- you haven’t met him yet.”

“A wizard?” Tony asked. 

“We have all types here.”

It turned out that Bruce had a bit of problem with an odd curse that turned him a large, green rage monster. He’d had a run-in with a hostile wizard. “I’m living with it,” he explained to Tony.

“You’d be a great addition to our team,” Tony said. They were working on defenses for the city. Thor helpfully tested out their inventions with rough, bruising attacks. Tony liked the challenge.

“Team?”

“My, uh, friend and I wanted to put together a team of extraordinary fairies from all the cities to counter all the threats.”

Bruce frowned slightly. “You know -- that would work. We could do that.”

“Now I know why I liked you.”

“You should talk to the Autumn Fairies too. They might have some good fairies for your team.”

~~~~~

Tony saw it before Rhodey did. From the minute that Rhodey met Carol, he started to fall for her. It was a slow thing that started with smiles and then progressed to their own jokes and time alone. Tony was happy for Rhodey, he really was. Rhodey deserved every good thing in life. 

While Tony worked, he listened to Rhodey wax poetic about Carol’s flying. She was an excellent flier and Rhodey enjoyed the challenge of flying around the city with her. After awhile, Rhodey was ridiculously predictable. He would help Tony around the workshop in the morning if needed or work on training plans for Thor. Until he started to get ansty, planning to see Carol as soon he could. That usually involved Tony saying to Rhodey, it’s okay to go. -- _Are you sure, Tones?_ \--Yeah, I have a lot to do here but it’s all me. 

Then Rhodey would head out to see if Carol was free.

Tony would be even happier for Rhodey if he had Steve around. The pain had subsided to a dull sadness that Tony could feel when he wasn’t busy. He wasn’t ever going to forget Steve’s cry of pain. He plotted terrible things he could do to Brock if he ever got his hands on him. 

There was so much he wanted to share with Steve. Like the bread he bought at a stall on the way to his workshop. Or the music in the city at night when the Spring Fairies danced and laughed. He thought of Steve when he was proud of something he’d built. He could imagine living here with Steve, where everyone was happy and free.

Thor told stories about Steve and his legendary deeds after dinner until everyone was nodding off to sleep. Tony didn’t know that they were so many stories about him. Like the time that Steve had fought a lizard menacing a small village. Or that time Steve single-handedly fought an invasion of rabid rats, holding off the rats until the other guards could arrive. The Spring Fairies adored the stories and begged Thor for more.

It just made Tony sad. Especially the story that Thor told about Steve subduing a monster and then drawing him. Now that story didn’t make a lick of sense to Tony. But the detail of Steve drawing struck him as odd. “Captain Steve was an artist?”

“Yes, Tony. If only Captain Steve was as famous an artist as he was a warrior.”

“Did you ever meet Steve?”

“A long time ago,” Thor replied. He smiled as he remembered. “I had travelled further north tracking a fox that had stepped on part of our city. Steve was hunting the same fox. It was a glorious fight. He was a born leader of fairies -- no one would be better to lead armies against the goblins.”

“A shame that Steve served the worst king in the world,” Carol interjected. “Sorry, Tony, if you were thinking Ross was the worst.”

Tony wished he had more news about home. He didn’t care what happened to Ross, but he did care about the fairies in the city who would be easy, undefended targets for Thanos. Assuming that Thanos was as bad as they said he was. Admittedly, he had no idea about goblins. Goblins were creatures of myth and legend, and apparently now one was heading towards them. 

At least the winter weather slowed Thanos down. Fury and Strange, the fairy wizard, interrogated every traveler to the Spring Fairies if they had news about Thanos. Nothing much at first. Soon enough, travelers talked about seeing smoke and fire coming down from the Mountains, fleeing animals and shell-shocked gnomes muttering about Thanos. Refugees from the foothills started arriving, staying only briefly before heading out for lands far far away from the Forest. Each one had stories about the damage wrought by Thanos and his goblins. There were whispers that the Winter Fairy city could not possibly withstand the goblin army. And if the Winter Fairy city fell, how could anyone be safe?

Tony spent the time working on armor and weapons for the Spring Fairies. He sat at council meetings and found himself leading discussions about protecting the city. He walked the perimeter wall with Thor looking for weaknesses. He was busy from dawn to dusk and often through the night. 

He barely had time to think, except for quiet moments over breakfast or at the end of the day as he got ready for bed. He thought of Steve, wondering if Steve would be proud of him, leading the preparations against the goblins. Steve would not be racked with self-doubt every step of the way, and Tony tried to be like him, strong and inspirational. Not exactly Tony’s strong suit, but he could see the need for someone like Steve to lead the fight. The best way to honor Steve would be to live inspired by him, Tony supposed.

But he missed Steve with every fiber of his being and he was never going to get over that loss. And in the small, dark hours of the night, when he couldn’t work anymore and he was alone, trying to get sleep and ease his restless mind, all Tony could think about was Steve. 

Steve believed in him and that was a powerful, powerful thing. What could Tony do now, without that love and belief? 

After the first stirrings of spring came, a distraught messenger raced into in the city square and collapsed surrounded by Spring Fairies. She shouted, “Thanos is here!” 

The council and army leaders were summoned to the square to hear the messenger. “Here?” Strange asked. 

“No,” the messenger gasped out. “He is in the Forest. He destroyed the Winter Fairy city.”

“How?” Fury demanded.

Fairies propped up the messenger, giving her water to sip while she caught her breath. “I did not see it -- all I saw was the fire and smoke coming from the ruins. We found fairies that had barely escaped and they said that Thanos and his minions came like a blizzard upon the city, killing everyone that they could get their hands on. They slew Alexander at the city gates when he fled the city. Then Thanos set the city on fire. The Winter Fairies have been scattered to the four winds.”

Carol cracked her knuckles. “Let him bring it. We’re ready.”

Tony muttered to Rhodey. “He’ll go for our city next before he comes here.”

Rhodey nodded grimly. 

~~~~~

Sunlight streaming across his bed and his face woke Steve up. He blinked a few times, taking in the quiet and the unfamiliar room. It was a miracle that he was alive.

Steve didn’t remember how long he floated down the river. He was barely conscious when he slipped into the water, and the river rolled and tossed his body against rocks and sunken logs. He felt broken and couldn’t move at all. Until he was finally pinned against some branches stuck on the river bank. He could sense he was being rescued more than knowing he’d been when he heard voices.

Tucked in blankets and bandaged up, Steve didn’t feel sore, even if he hadn’t rested long enough for his injuries to heal. The little girl sitting at the foot of the bed smiled at him. Then she jumped to her feet. “Dad, dad, the man is awake!”

A brown-haired man with brown wings came to the door. “Thanks, Peanut. Do you need breakfast?”

Steve tried to push himself up. He felt weak and fell back into the pillows.

“No, no. Stay there. You can’t move yet.”

As Scott and his daughter Cassie served him breakfast in bed, Scott explained, “We found you a few days ago. It was touch and go for a while. Looks like you’ve pulled through.”

“Where am I?” Steve asked. He couldn’t tell where he was from the utilitarian furniture in the room nor could he see outside the window.

“Just outside the Forest. We don’t see many other fairies here.”

“I heard that our guest is awake,” an older woman asked from the doorway. “Run along, Cassie and Scott -- I need to check on him.”

Janet, who was related somehow to Scott, carefully checked Steve’s injuries and gently changed the bandages on his wings. “They will heal in time, just like new, but you can’t use them now. Or you’ll damage them.”

Steve must have made a face at that because Janet laughed a little. “You heal quick, but you need the rest. No more. Rest, now.”

Janet and Scott lived in a small isolated village and farmed ants with his extended family. The fairies from the Forest or from the Savannah rarely came to the village, which was not close to the traditional trade routes. Which was likely why Steve had never heard of them. They were curious about him and how he came to be trapped in their fishing weirs. Cassie pestered him with questions until she was shooed away from the guest.

The ant ranching fairies were more than generous with Steve. They gave him food and clothes, did not push Steve for answers he wasn’t ready to give and listened to his stories about the Mountains and Forest fairies at night. It was the one thing he could give these nice fairies. Cassie found him paper so that he could draw while he rested during the day.

Hope, Janet’s daughter, was the most restless of the ant fairies. She often traveled to distant villages to trade and sell for the ranch. After her last trip, she brought the news of the war between the Winter and Summer Fairies and the rumors of a goblin army. “We need to know more,” she insisted to the family gathered around the dinner table. “I should go --”

“No need to get involved.” Hope’s father, Hank, was a cynical old man. “I’ve forgotten much about goblins. But there’s no doubt Thanos planned all this.”

Steve paused in buttering his bread. “We hadn’t heard about him until recently.”

Hank shook his head. “I lived among other fairies once in the Winter and Summer cities, and I knew both Alexander and Ross. Both were always ready to believe the worst of other fairies -- it wouldn’t take much to get them to fight someone. If they are eager to go to war, then they would not be ready to defend their cities against a goblin and Thanos would not have much of a challenge. Thanos is clearly an intelligent foe.”

Steve’s spirits fell, thinking how vulnerable the Forest fairies were because of the conflict between the kings. He should have done more to stop the war. Although, as Hank pointed out, Alexander and Ross needed only the pretext of an excuse for war. 

“Not your fault, Steve. You’re the hero we need,” Janet said warmly. She squeezed his arm.

“You know who I am?”

“We’ve heard about you and all your deeds,” Hope said. “Everyone has.”

Janet promised him that he would be well enough to return to the Forest after the winter. His magic was slow to return to him as well. Restless and impatient, Steve drew pictures of Tony over and over again using every inch of the scraps of precious paper. He would flex his stiff fingers and drawing hand as he did his warm-up sketches, trying to capture the fleeting images of Tony in ink. 

Tony likely thought Steve was dead. And that thought kept Steve up at night, watching the stars in the sky, wondering where Tony was. If he had gone back to the Summer Fairy city. If he remembered Steve. He’d find Tony again, wherever he was. He’d hold Tony until he knew that Tony was his again and that they would never be parted by any force on earth.

Once Steve could stand, he helped Scott wrangle the ants home every night and did chores around the ranch. Janet fussed over him, warning him about working too hard and against using his still-healing wings. Steve measured the passing time in terms of healing and when he could fly again.

One night in early spring, as they sat down for dinner, Cassie ran into the house. She nagged Scott and Hope to come outside and see the smoke coming from the Forest. “What’s that, Dad?” she asked.

“Nothing good,” Scott said, after exchanging a worried look with the other adults.

Bad news travelled fast, even to the isolated ant ranch. Thanos burnt the Winter Fairy city to the ground and refugee fairies were fleeing for their lives. Steve had expected to go back home some day. Reclaim his life, figure out a life with Tony. He thought of all the spots he loved in the city, the plazas he sat in with his friends on warm summer evenings, the snapping of the fires in the great hall while he drew, the large library near his home, the gardens he’d once worked in. All gone, everyone he ever knew now dead or lost in the Forest, maybe never to be seen again.

Steve knew in his bones he had to go back and fight Thanos. Stop the madness because the goblin was going to destroy other fairy cities, maybe even eradicate fairies entirely from the Forest where they had lived from time immemorial. His blood boiled thinking about it.

Janet checked his wings. “You can stay here as long as you want,” she said. “You’ve been good for us.”

“I can’t,” Steve replied. He opened and closed his fist, watching the tendons and bones tense and flex. He was ready to fight again. There were fairies lost and vulnerable out there and he could do something about that.

“Hmmmm.” Janet unwrapped his wings. “Tonight we’ll go without the bandages.”

“That means I can fly soon.” He slowly flapped his wings, feeling the strength returning to them.

“I didn’t spend all this time healing you for you to go out and die.”

“I can’t --”

Janet gave him a hug around his shoulders. “I know -- it’s your nature. I’ll worry about you when you go.”

A week later, Steve was ready to go. His magic had come back and he could summon his shield and armor. He could fly. There was nothing holding him back. Hope was the only one who supported his decision to return to the Forest. Hank sputtered, “Other fairies’ wars, Steve.”

“My city. My war.” There was no other way in Steve’s mind. “I have to do something. Tony and my friends are out there.”

“Go to the Autumn Fairies,” Hope said. “They’ve been getting ready for Thanos too.”

“How far a journey?”

“A day or two on the flying ants,” she said. “Maybe we should all go?”

“The rest of us -- we can’t leave the ants,” Hank said. “We have to secure the ranch.”

“Or move the ants to safety,” Scott suggested. Hank huffed in response.

“Here. Take this.” Janet handed him a small scroll. “If you need us, use this powerful summoning spell and we’ll be there.”

Steve packed away the spell and the extra clothes they gave him. He looked at the map again. “I’ll go with you,” Hope said. “I know the way.”

“Scott -- is there some way to get word to T’Challa? -- he’s king of the Savannah Fairies. They have no idea of what could happen.”

“We have ants that can do that.”

Hope gave Steve a quick lesson on riding a flying ant. “Wouldn’t it be easier to fly ourselves?” Steve asked as his ant bucked up and down, trying to toss him off her back.

“This is faster,” Hope said confidently. “The city is that way.”

They found the Autumn Fairies’ city by finding a long line of fairy refugees heading to the city from the fallen Winter city and outlying Autumn villages. Steve worried seeing fairies he knew bereft of everything but the stuff on their backs. Hope only seemed to get angrier.

“How could no one make the effort to stop Thanos? Look at all those fairies -- vulnerable to being attacked.”

Steve looked dubiously at the Autumn city. His city had had stone walls built to withstand anything that the Mountains could throw at them. But his city still fell to Thanos. The Autumn Fairies had mud brick walls. And refugees were being housed in tents outside the walls, now that the city was full. 

Hope left Steve outside the walls. “I’ll be back,” she promised. “Once we’ve secured the ranch.”

“Look after your family first.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “They are more than capable of taking care of themselves. Except for Scott. He always finds a way to get into trouble.”

Steve walked towards the city gates, surprised by the cheers from the Winter Fairy refugees. “Captain Steve lives!” they shouted. He stopped to talk to the fairies, to hear about the fall of the city and how Thanos himself slew Alexander over the broken city gates. Desperate Winter Fairies had scattered to the four winds, some to the Autumn Fairies, others to the Spring Fairies, some even to the Summer city. Steve felt grim, knowing that the Summer city would be next for Thanos.

The city guards welcomed Steve into the city. They brought him to the low, sprawling palace. “The queen will see you now.” A guard pointed to a room off the hall.

Steve had heard good stories about Queen Peggy, who had ruled over the Autumn Fairies for many, many years. She was meeting with her councilors in a large room that overlooked the city. “Hey, look, it’s Steve!” Sam said, pointing at Steve in the doorway.

Sam, Nat and Bucky crowded around to grab and hug Steve. “Brock told us that he killed you, that you had betrayed us to the Summer Fairies,” Bucky said.

“We didn’t believe a single word of it,” Nat and Sam added. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Steve replied. “Our city is gone now and all fairies are in trouble.”

“But we have friends here,” Nat added. “Queen Peggy has been getting ready for this.”

Queen Peggy, still hale and strong in her advanced years, greeted Steve. “We can always use another general, Captain Steve.” She pointed to the map. “I have sent messengers out to the Spring Fairies, to the Savannah Fairies, and to any of our remaining allies.”

Clint, the fairy with short, dark-blond hair and a large bow strapped to his back spoke, “We are tracking Thanos now.” He traced a glowing line down the map. “He’s moving slow but will reach the Summer Fairy city soon.”

Steve squared his shoulders, drew himself up to his full height, and became instantly the soldier of legend. He studied the map, strategy and tactics for fighting Thanos already filling his mind. “How many fighters do we have?” he asked. “Let’s start planning.”

~~~~~

Steve sat at a table with his friends on a rooftop ringed with lights under the night sky full of stars above them. He could look down on the low buildings of the city, far different that his own. The Autumn Fairy city had been built for comfort and convenience, not for defense. It would be hard to defend the city with its large open spaces, straight roads, and low walls meant only to keep out marauding rats.

Nat had met Clint a long time ago when she was on a mission for Fury, and they had stayed in touch for years after. “So, what now?” Clint asked. 

Steve shook his head. “We have a hard task ahead of us.” 

“Not many Winter Fairy soldiers survived the attack on the city,” Bucky said.

“The refugees are civilians -- not fighters. I don’t think I’ve seen a single fairy from the guard outside of ourselves.”

“The war. It was the war, and Alexander left green soldiers behind to defend the city. They had no chance.” Steve got up and started pacing. He had a hard time containing his anger over what Alexander had pridefully done to them and their city. 

“That means that some warriors may have survived the battles with Summer Fairies,” Clint pointed out. “We don’t know what happened.”

“The Summer Fairies having been holding off Thanos. Thanks to Tony’s defenses and weapons,” Sam added

“If that city falls --” Steve started.

“That’s what Peggy has been concerned about. We’re not going to turn away any refugees. But you see that we can’t keep them within the city wall -- there are too many,” Clint continued.

Sam said, “But we have Steve back. Which is more than we had this morning.” 

“I have to think,” Steve admitted. He frowned, turning all the information over in his mind. They didn’t have much to work with and too much to lose if they didn’t manage to defeat Thanos.

“You can plan In the morning,” Sam interrupted. “You still owe us an explanation for what happened to you.”

Steve told them about falling into Brock’s trap, losing the fight when he let himself get tricked, and how he ended up at the ant ranch. Then it hit him hard. No one knew where Tony was. None of his friends or the Autumn Fairies had a whiff of news about Tony and whether he had survived or where he had gone. He had tried to get word to Tony when he was at the ant ranch, but there was the war and the ant messengers were already risking too much flying close into the fighting.

His friends told him about fleeing the Winter fairy city and their harrowing journey to the Autumn Fairies. It wasn’t just Thanos who was taking advantage of the distracted fairies and the war. Peggy had been glad to take them in.

Dinner was dust in his mouth, as Steve listened to their stories and knew that Tony was in great danger if he had gone back to the Summer Fairies. Nothing good could possibly happen if he had done that, and the idea that Tony could be in deadly trouble worried Steve beyond belief.

And worse was knowing that Tony was out there, believing Steve was dead. 

That nearly killed Steve, who clung to the memories of Tony, the way he talked about his idea for a team of extraordinary fairies, the way his face lit up when he talked about a new invention. Steve couldn’t lose those memories -- they might be all that he had left of Tony.

Sam walked with Steve back to their rooms. “You’re thinking about Tony,” he said to Steve.

Steve heavily leaned against the wall of his room. “I wish I knew if he were safe.” He looked down at the tiled floor, reluctant to give shape to his fears through words. “I’ve never loved anyone like I love Tony, Sam.”

“If he is everything you say he is, Tony will be fine -- he sounds like one of hell of a guy.”

“He might be fighting Thanos,” Steve said, with a fond smile. “He wouldn’t stay away from a fight like that.”

There had been a time when all Steve saw in his future were more patrols, more missions, more death and disappointment. Tony was none of that. He was a bright flame against the darkness. He got Steve to believe in a future again and in the alluring promise of building something good and true, something greater than himself. And it would be an injustice if Tony was washed away in the war and in the fight against Thanos.

In the morning, Steve went for a long walk to clear his head and think more about the fight against Thanos. The bustling city streets were crowded with fairies and all the open spaces, even the markets, were full of refugee tents. Peggy had decreed that they would turn away no one, and the Autumn Fairies had opened their doors to those who came to their city.

But Steve didn’t get far in his walk when fairies came up to him. They clamored for news, hoping for a bright spot in the constant streams of only bad and worse news. Steve encouraged them, repeating over and over that it was darkest before dawn. He sincerely believed that good news was around the corner and that things were bound to get better. All the fairies had was hope, faith and belief, and Steve was worn out from their need.

He was rescued by a small fairy child. “Sir, the queen wishes to see you.”

Steve was glad to meet more of Peggy’s councilors. This time he was introduced to Wanda and Vision, both powerful magic users. Peggy had deployed them on her borders to set wards and other protection spells to hopefully hold off Thanos’ minions. Wanda reported that they had not seen more refugees. But animals fleeing and the weird quietness of the Forest worried everyone. 

Peggy laid out work plans for building walls to protect the refugee camps and other wartime preparations. More than enough work for everyone. “For you, Steve, I want you to review my guard to see if we need more training. I want to be as prepared as we can be for anything Thanos can throw at us.”

Nat stood next to him as he evaluated Peggy’s warriors. “They’re well trained,” he said. “But so were our warriors.”

“We have to try.”

Steve nodded. “Thanos is setting out to destroy all fairies. Maybe all living beings in the Forest.”

“That’s an awful thing to think about.”

“I wish we knew what was going on at the Summer city.”

“We’ll find out, sooner or later.”

The first of the Summer Fairy refugees reached the Autumn city that afternoon. Their stories only repeated what they had already heard from the Winter Fairies. Thanos and his minions were destroying everything in their path. The Forest was on fire and the brooks and ponds choked with ash and fallen trees. In a last-ditch attempt to save his city, Ross had hastily built up fortifications and dug a moat to delay his advances.

“What of Tony?” Steve asked.

The Summer Fairies told him that Tony had been arrested by Ross to make weapons, but that he had escaped and no one had heard from him. Or his friends, Rhodey and Pepper. Steve’s heart sank at the news. If Tony had escaped and found him, Steve would have died to protect him from Ross and Obie to keep Tony happy and safe. He had his suspicions about Obie’s plans for Tony. He had a glimmer of hope that Tony had escaped with Rhodey. He liked what he’d heard about Rhodey -- a fine warrior himself, a member of Ross’ guard and a childhood friend of Tony’s. 

Peggy summoned them all. She’d had confirmation that Thanos was laying siege to the Summer Fairy city, and that there were more refugees on their way.

“We should contact the Spring Fairies,” Clint suggested. “Lots of powerful fairies in that city.”

Peggy sighed. “They will be worried for their city and their families. No one has anything to spare for aid.”

“But we can do something to help the refugees,” Steve said. “Provide cover for escape, protect the roads.”

“Can you organize a team, Captain?” Peggy asked.

“My friend Tony and I have been talking about forming a team of fairies from all the cities to serve as protective force, so that we don’t rely on one city alone for our defense. If you could spare a few fairies, I can go to the Summer Fairy city.”

Peggy considered Steve’s proposal long and hard. “Yes, Captain, I’ll lend you the fairies that you need. How can we not trust the slayer of the Red Skull?”

“That was a long time ago,” Steve said. 

“But you have done much since then.”

Now Steve had his core team of Nat, Bucky, Sam with the addition of Clint, Wanda and Vision. “I would’ve done anything to get on the team,” Clint said. He was gathering up all the arrows he could find. “I’m going stir crazy waiting for Thanos.”

“Better to take the fight to him,” Wanda said. 

Steve pondered about calling in Hope and Scott. But Hope returned just as they were about to leave. She was put-out when she learned that she had nearly missed them. “I don’t want to be left behind,” she said. 

“We can’t afford to leave anyone behind -- we need everyone we can find,” Steve said.

“Hmph. Let’s go,” she said.

~~~~~

Tony was up to his elbows forging armor for his friends and the Spring Fairies, so he was not among the first to hear the news about Thanos being on the verge of attacking the Summer Fairy city. He heard from an angry Rhodey.

Rhodey hated the news. He pored over maps with Carol, talking about the city defenses, how Ross had probably felled trees around the city for more protection. The best they could hope for that the news was false. 

That illusion was shattered when the refugees came. The first refugees had come to the Spring city fleeing the battles between the Winter and the Summer cities. Now they were fleeing Thanos.

Tony and Rhodey worried because the refugees were from the tiny hamlets around the city, few from the city itself. What had happened to the city fairies? Did they even have a chance to escape?

“They could have gone to the Autumn Fairy city -- it’s well protected and hidden,” Carol suggested. 

“If the Summer city falls, I don’t know what will happen,” Rhodey pointed out. “It’s the most well-protected city after the Winter city.”

“We’re a more obvious target than the Autumn city,” Carol said. “More magic here.”

Tony loved his new friends and city too much to lose them. Setting aside the war and the threat of Thanos, Tony would’ve been having the time of his life here among the Spring Fairies. He didn’t want to lose any of what he had found. Now, his friends were fighting for the survival of the Forest Fairies, all of them, and they deserved the very best he could give them.

He stopped to wipe the sweat from his face. If only Steve was here … he could use Steve’s strength right then, the clarity of his thinking, his straightforward nature. He was also working hard for Steve. If Steve were there, he would be in the thick of the fight. Well, wherever Steve was, Tony hoped that Steve would be proud of him.

“We have to think about the Autumn city too,” Bruce said on the other side of the workshop. Bruce was working on stockpiling spell scrolls and amulets for whatever was coming. 

“What about the Autumn city?” Tony asked. 

“If we’re not seeing refugees here, they could be going to that city.”

“We’d have to go through the battlefield to even reach the Autumn city,” Tony admitted. “I could send my messaging orbs but it will be a while before we hear back.” He didn’t remember much about the Autumn Fairies. All he knew was that they were a peaceful lot of fairies who were prosperous and lived quietly in their city off the beaten path.

“Right. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to help.”

Tony didn’t say anything since he had to focus on fixing a particularly tricky hinge on a piece of armor. He liked Bruce a lot -- even though Bruce used magic more than Tony, Bruce agreed with Tony that fairies relied a bit too much on magic. They’d already spent long evenings talking about science and engineering and bad jokes.

It was Thor who pulled together the plan to march to the Summer Fairy city’s aid. “We cannot leave them alone to face the wrath of Thanos.”

Tony waited with Rhodey for the decision of the council. Tony had tired of the long back-and-forth debate between the council members and finally withdrawn from the audience in favor of drowning his sorrows with Rhodey at a nearby inn.

Thor bounded into the inn and clapped both Tony and Rhodey on their shoulders. “The council has voted to send aid to the Summer city, my friends. We go as soon as we can.”

~~~~~

Thor and Carol were more than excited to get going and face the fight. They had a large, unwieldy but enthusiastic mob that Carol was leading in the fight to save the Summer Fairies. Pare down the size, and it was nearly that team that Tony had dreamed of.

The massive amount of damage in the Forest shocked Tony when they flew closer to their city. Trees cut down, empty creek beds and charred stumps everywhere. Bare ground where there once had been plants and underbrush. The Spring Fairies flew in silence over the damage from the war in the Forest. 

Tony wondered if any of that damage was caused by fairy fighting against fairy. It didn’t matter now. Carol had them set down while they still had cover from the Forest. “Look,” she said in awe -- pointing towards a large, looming purple figure in the distance.

Thanos. Batting at flying fairies.

They looked grimly at each other. Thor swung his hammer back and forth. Tony adjusted his repulsors. And Carol said, “I have to readjust the war plan.”

“It is not hard. We hit him until he doesn’t move,” Thor declared.

“We might need more finesse than that. But the plan works for me.” Tony got ready for flying into the maelstrom.

Rhodey landed next to Carol. He had flown a recon mission around the city to see if the city was still standing. “The city is still standing. The Autumn Fairies arrived a short time ago.” He pointed to the organized swarm of fairies swirling around Thanos. 

“Good.” Carol slammed a fist into her hand. “I can work with this.”

“Well, kids, be careful out there,” Tony said as he launched into the air.

~~~~~

Carol had assigned Tony to wreck the flanks of Thanos’ army. He chased and knocked down goblins and the sprites for the past hour. One goblin stood his ground and Tony had a brief, sharp fight that ended with him repulsoring the goblin into next week. He stopped to check for bruises before heading back to the main fight.

“Nice work,” a sandy blond-haired fairy said. He was gathering arrows around a dead pile of minions.

“Yours?” Tony asked.

“We all have to do our bits. I’m Clint, by the way.” Clint shoved the last of his arrows into his quiver.

Tony immediately could tell that Clint was a Autumn Fairy with his purple and black wings. Fall colors. “Tony.”

“Wait a minute -- you’re a Summer Fairy.” Clint peered at him. “Did you come from the city?”

“I’m a Spring Fairy now. I came with them.”

“The Spring Fairies are here?! Come with me -- our general would be happy to hear that.”

“You have a general?”

“The best one in the world. This way.”

Tony and Clint fought their way back to the Autumn Fairy camp. Clint didn’t miss a single minion, but he grumbled about the lack of quality in the arrows. They started to run across more and more Autumn Fairies bustling about fighting minions, pushing the fight forward to break Thanos’ siege.

“He’s going to be in the thick of the battle,” Clint muttered.

“That’s a good place to be.” Tony was itching to keep up the fight. 

And the thick of the fight was vicious and furious. Autumn Fairies were fighting side by side with the remnants of the Winter Fairies’ army. Clint and Tony pushed forward, punching their way through until Clint found a Winter Fairy.

“Sam -- I have a Summer Fairy here.”

“Tony,” Sam said. “Out of all the fairies --”

“You know him?” Clint asked. “He’s with the Spring Fairies.”

“I know about him. He’s going to want to hear this. Come on.” Sam moved purposefully to the right. 

“We’re going back to camp?”

“Yeah.”

The leadership of the Autumn and Winter Fairies were regrouping around a small rock where a fairy in red, white and blue armor was explaining the lines of attack. Tony knew him by his voice, then his wings, even if they were in armor. 

“Steve. You’re alive.” _Steve was alive._ Tony could scream in happiness. 

Steve. Was. Alive.

Nothing else mattered. No, correct that. They had a war for survival going on that -- that was important too.

But his Steve was alive and only a foot away from him.

“Tony! How -- why? You’re here!” Steve ran up to him. 

“You’re alive!”

“I survived the fight with Brock.”

“ _Steve_.” Tony put everything he felt into saying Steve’s name. Because that’s all he had time for before he repulsored an incoming missile aimed at Steve’s head. He was not going to lose Steve again. Ever.

“Right. We have a fight now. Okay. Fill me in as we go.”

It felt beyond right to be fighting side by side with Steve as Steve rallied all the fairies to make another break through Thanos’ lines. Tony tried to explain his latest innovations in armor and weaponry, but they had no time for talk. Or anything more than a quick squeeze of Steve’s hand on his shoulder.

They and their friends and all the fairies were exhausted at the end of the day.

“We can’t keep up with this,” Tony said. They were holed up near a small stone wall fortification trying to eat a miserable dinner of crackers and cheese. Thanos’ minions were resting as well in the dark of the night. Steve was expecting an attack any minute.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. 

“Do you have any ideas? Because I think all we need to do is hit them harder and heavier.”

“That works too.” Steve leaned forward and kissed Tony on his forehead. “I am glad to see you.”

Tony smiled. “What next?”

Steve smiled back at him. “I have a plan.”

~~~~~

Steve summoned the leaders of the various fairies factions to meet during the night. Thanos might have been a goblin, but he had shown a reluctance to fight at night. Or was waiting for the right opportunity. That was Steve’s theory about Thanos. 

In a hastily rigged up tent, he laid out a map of the Summer Fairy city on the table in the center of the tent. Someone had put a purple blob on the map to indicate Thanos as a helpful little touch. 

“Thanos is powerful -- we break through and he punches back. We need a plan to take him out. Permanently,” Steve said. He made eye contact with the fairies gathered around the table.

“Goblins have a powerful dark magic,” Strange said. “I’ll need help to cast the spells to counter him.”

“You have Vision and Wanda,” Steve replied.

“And don’t forget Bruce -- he was the fairy who was transformed during the battle into a goblin,” Tony added.

“Next, our strongest flier -- I need you to gather intelligence and report back. Sam and Rhodey -- find the best fliers and go. Rhodey, you’re in charge. You should take Hope too.”

Rhodey nodded at Sam. “We’ve got it.”

“Our heavy hitters -- Carol, Thor, Tony -- you know what to do. Hit hard and don’t let up. Natasha, Clint and Bucky -- we’ll need your stealth to work the angles that the heavy hitters aren’t. Anything --”

“Steve -- look who’s here,” Hope shouted from the tent doorway. “I used the summoning spell to bring them here.”

Scott and the rest of the ant family stepped into the tent. “I’m glad to see you,” Steve said. 

“We brought a friend, too,” Scott said. “T’Challa from the Savannah Fairies. And his warriors.”

“If we don’t stop Thanos here, we will be fighting him at our home. Better to stop him now,” T’Challa said.

“We will be glad to have you at our side,” Steve said. “Let’s go over the plan -- with changes.”

After the end of the meeting, Steve and Tony slipped away. Tony knew they needed sleep, morning wasn’t far away. They found some rolled-up blankets and pillows and Tony lay in Steve’s arms. “If we --” he started.

“We’ll win,” Steve automatically replied.

“If we lose,” Tony said, “it will still be worth it to see you again.”

Steve held him tighter. “We’ll have better tomorrows. After we defeat Thanos.” 

~~~~~

For years afterwards, fairies of all types would tell about the day that the fairies of the Forest and the Savannah joined together to defeat Thanos as he raged through the Forest. 

The final battle started at the dawn when Steve sent Rhodey and his strong fliers off. Rhodey lead the air cover to find out how strong Thanos still was. Sam brought back the news. “Rhodey says that Thanos has lost part of his army. The city is holding up -- but there’s been damage to the walls and it doesn’t look good.”

“Tell Rhodey to keep it up.”

“Clint -- lead your guys out. Step up the harassment.”

“Will do, Cap.”

Steve pulled Bucky aside before he left with Clint. “Fury and Maria have been rounding up any Winter Fairies they can find.”

“You want me to lead them?”

“Do what you can.”

Strange waited with Steve as they waited for Clint’s attacks to do damage. Clint was the making the most of it -- he and his fairies shot arrows and flung rocks, stinging Thanos and distracting him with their hit and run tactics. Scott and Hope led a swarm of ants around his head. “I’m ready,” Strange said.

Steve took a deep breath. “This has to work.”

“It will,” the fairy wizard replied.

“Ready for us?” Carol asked. She was wearing a set of armor Tony had specially designed for her. Thor impatiently swung his hammer.

Steve summoned his shield. “If I send you in now, Strange may not have set up his spells.”

“I can take a lot of banging up,” Carol scoffed. 

Tony drew Steve into a kiss. “For a good luck,” he said. 

Steve then lifted his shield. “Attack!” he yelled and they all raced forward flying, ready to fight. 

Tony was nearly awestruck as the fairies took the air, grim and armed, ready to take their forest back. Steve led the first charge, with Carol at his heels. The wave of fairies struck hard, nearly taking Thanos down. But he recovered quickly, swinging his arms and commanding the remaining goblins to hit back harder.

After that, Tony was in the thick of the fight, shooting his repulsors at anything goblin. He fought until his arms and wings were sore. He caught glimpses of Steve throwing his shield and Thor his hammer to mow down goblins. He and Rhodey blasted Thanos’ face. Carol led him and a small group of fairies in knee-capping Thanos. They whooped loudly as Thanos fell to one knee.

“Keep it up!” Steve shouted over the noise.

The fairies surged forward, driving Thanos back and away from the city. The Summer Fairies flew out from behind their walls to join in the fight. T’Challa’s fairies held the back lines, so that any goblin would be forced to surrender or flee into the forest. Under the constant assault by the fairies, Thanos visibly weakened.

“We have an idea,” Strange and Bruce said as they popped out of the air next to Steve. 

“And?” 

“Keep up the assault. We can weave a spell to transport Thanos back to the Mountains.”

“He could come back --”

Bruce shook his head. “Considering the beating he’s taking, Thanos won’t be back.”

“The other goblins will take their revenge,” Strange added.

“Do it.”

Steve gathered his forces together for another assault on Thanos. Rhodey and Sam and their fairies rained rocks down on Thanos as Tony shot a beam right into Thanos’ chest. Steve grimly smiled. They were pinning him down. Thor and Carol attacked his knees and feet. They were winning.

Then a flying phalanx of the fairy wizards swooped in and combined they sent a cloud of magic right at Thanos. The cloud enveloped him and then disappeared in a puff of air. T’Challa’s fairies stepped aside to let the remaining goblins run away.

The exhausted fairies returned to their makeshift camps. Despite being tired to the bone, they still found the energy to celebrate their victory. The camps were filled with music and dancing and celebrating. 

Tony and Steve sat quietly together in a corner, watching their friends laugh and dance and sing. Steve squeezed Tony’s hand. “We made it,” he said.

“We did,” Tony agreed. “We should go back to our tent, to get some sleep. Before you get another wave of admirers.”

“Are you sure?” Steve asked. “It’s --”

Tony nearly groaned. He pulled Steve up to his feet. “Time for us to celebrate, just us. We can sort out next steps tomorrow.”

Steve smiled sheepishly. “I get it.”

~~~~~

Steve stretched and rolled over to curl up around Tony. He was never going to get over that feeling of Tony next to him. Maybe Tony was awake now. Not that Steve wanted to get up yet. No one was going to bother them in their tent. Steve liked to think it was respect, but Tony cheerfully pointed out that no one wanted to walk in on them. He wanted to keep stealing as much private time with Tony that he could.

He knew what would happen today and he wanted to put it off as long as possible.

“You’re awake, I can hear you breathing,” Tony said. He turned around to look at Steve. 

“Let’s stay in bed all day,” Steve said, snaking an arm around Tony’s waist to pull him close.

Tony put his forehead on Steve’s. “We can’t, you know that. Do you know what you’re going to say?”

Steve flipped onto his back. He thought for a few minutes. “I don’t know. It’s hard to say no.”

“I’ll back you, no matter what.”

“What about you -- it’s not like you haven’t been asked --”

“I told Ross ‘no’ already. It wasn’t hard. He did the hard sell about how he needs a good right-hand fairy as he rebuilds the city.” Tony snuggled into Steve’s side. “I never liked him much and he worked with Obie. I’m not sure he wouldn’t stab me in the back.” Obie had been counted among the dead after the siege of the Summer city.

“But it’s your city.”

“So is the Spring Fairy city. I wish I’d moved there years ago.”

Steve ran his fingers up and down Tony’s arm. “We wouldn’t have met if you did that.”

“We would have. It was destiny, fate, all that stuff.”

“That’s funny, coming from a fairy who doesn’t like magic.”

“Think of all that had to happen for us to even meet.” Tony curled his fingers in Steve’s hair and kissed his nose. “My orb had to have a problem. I had to fall in the right bush at the right time. If none that happened, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

If he hadn’t met Tony …. Steve didn’t like to think that way. If he hadn’t met Tony that day, he would never have met him. Steve had a lot of confidence, but he knew now that he wouldn’t have been able to defeat Thanos without his friends. If he hadn’t met Tony, he’d be dead now. Not here trying to keep Tony in bed and avoid the Winter Fairies waiting for him.

“If we don’t get up, Sam or worse Natasha will come to wake us up. You don’t want Natasha, right? She wouldn’t care how naked we were -- she’d stay until we got up.”

Steve threw the covers off the bed. He should be presentable for the delegation that was coming to see him. The ceremonial niceties had to be followed. He tossed fruit to Tony in bed as he had a quick breakfast.

Tony put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s going to be fine, Steve. You’ll make the right decision. I know you will.” He left Steve to get dressed.

Steve put on his clothes and the pretty armor that Tony made for him. As he fastened the armored skirt, he glanced down at the pile of papers on Tony’s table on the side of the tent. Tony had been drawing up plans for their city, the one they’d been talking about since they first met. Tony was remarkably brilliant in the defenses, thoughtful about what threats they could face.

Steve walked out of the tent to the carved chair in the middle of the circle of tents. Fury fell into place with him. “You’ll make a great king, Steve,” he said encouragingly.

“You’d like that? Instead of you?”

Fury didn’t answer. Bucky, Sam and Natasha were waiting, wearing clothes and armor that resembled the old Winter Fairy uniforms. Odd to realize that an entire way of life was now gone. Steve wasn’t going to mourn a lot of it. He liked the new versions with the blue, white and red stars. Sam gave him a thumbs up.

Steve sat down in the carved chair, the winning general who had engineered the winning battle. As the Winter Fairy delegation walked through the gathered fairies. Steve could pick out all his friends -- old and new -- Scott and Hope, Wanda, Vision, Rhodey hand in hand with Carol. And then there was Tony, shining in his gold and red armor. 

“General Steve, the Winter Fairies are without a king and a city. We have been tasked to ask you to take up the crown of the Winter Fairies as you are the hero of our people.”

Steve glanced over at Fury and Maria. Then back to Tony. He thoughtfully tapped on the arm of his chair. He could think of all the good things the Winter Fairies had done. Then all the bad, which had corrupted and twisted what had started off as good and generous thing. He, Tony and their friends had found a new way, a better way to help fairies. 

Better that the old ways had burned down in the war. Tony didn’t want to go back to his life before the war. And he adored that about Tony. 

“Thank you,” Steve said graciously. He could hear the crowd hold their breath. “But I believe that there would be better options for your king than me. I’m fit for the battlefield, not the council room. Fury here would make a better king than I would.”

The delegation looked confused at each other. “But you --”

Steve held up his hand. “I am honored and flattered. But we fairies -- all of us -- have need for protection. Tony of the Summer Fairies and I are going to build a new force to protect fairies -- a force of extraordinary fairies from all the fairy cities to protect us all. That is what I am better at -- not rebuilding a city. So I have to say no, I’m not your king.”

The rest of the day was anti-climatic after Steve’s dramatic refusal to be king. Except for the massive party that broke out after lunch when everyone let loose and celebrated.

Tony and Steve sat with beer in hand on the side of the party. “They weren’t happy with what you said earlier,” Tony said.

“Who?”

“The Winter Fairies.”

Steve shrugged. “They’re talking to Fury.” He drank his beer.

“Since you’re in the mood to entertain propositions, I have one for you.” 

“Oh?”

“Let’s get married. Now.”

Steve turned to look at Tony in surprise. “Now?”

“Sure -- all our friends are here. Let’s do it before we get too involved in building the compound.”

Steve grabbed Tony and kissed him. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

That’s how Steve in his uniform and Tony in his armor married, standing hand in hand under the summer sky with all their friends around them yelling and shouting. Steve smiled at Tony and squeezed his hand. 

“I can’t wait to build a life with you,” Steve said. 

Tony could only smile back at him. “I’ve got big plans.”

“ _We’ve_ got big plans,” Steve told him, sharing a kiss with Tony as the crowd cheered.


End file.
